A Second Winter in Wonderland
by St0ryTeller
Summary: The sequel to Winter Wonderland. Ezra, Aria, Lily and Olivia find themselves in a new chapter of their lives.
1. Chapter 1

_For those who are unaware, I have previously written to this story Winter Wonderland (please see my account). This will serve as a part two to that._

**HELLO! So, I decided to continue with this storyline. I received such overwhelming love, such kind words and compliments as I wrote Winter Wonderland; so I couldn't not continue with this story! Though I believe concluding the story where I did and starting a 'Part 2' was the right choice. Think of it as part one in the book, and now this is part 2. ;) What I am doing this time though is writing the whole story before I publish the chapters, so I get into the habit of planning events before and producing them to you a little more consistently. Upon reading my last story back, while I am very proud of it, very proud; the perfectionist in me wishes it was a little more consistent; so that's something I hope to perfect in part 2. I'm also going to try to tighten my phrasing and descriptions a bit; make it a bit more 'mature' (said with a posh accent); so please let me know how I'm going! No one in my real life knows this is me, what I'm doing, and I don't get any feedback, so I'm relying on you guys to help make me better as a writer! :D**

**And I'm going to start individually thanking people after their reviews each chapter in this story. I wanted to for a long time with this story, and I wish I had. When reviews make me smile (and quite a few have brought tears to my eyes); I want to acknowledge how much each comment means to me. So, look forward to that. ;)**

**So, here we go!**

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><p><em><strong>Part Two to Winter Wonderland, Chapter 1<strong>_

The sun streaming through their white lace curtains, Aria slowly began to stir from her night's sleep. Her hair messed and her eyes tired, she slowly registered her surroundings; her and Ezra in their bed, he curled in towards her not a foot away, his arm draped around her waist as he continued to sleep. She smiled as he smiled in his sleep, his face alive yet at peace while he rested. Her heart fluttered staring at his face before she reached her hand to touch his cheek, light enough not to wake him, while she smiled at the contact. He stirred a little and swallowed deeply, making Aria quickly retract her hand from his face with her face in playful shock at his waking. He lightly licked his lips before he pushed his head further into his pillow again. His hand that was draped around Aria's waist moved in a circle on her back to tell her he loved her, making her smile. Aria leaned forward into Ezra's face, and began slowly to nibble on the edge of his ear, briefly pausing to notice the smile develop on his face. With Ezra still resting on his side, Aria pushed her body up to his tightly. She rested her head on his neck as he also snuggled his face into hers while he continued to rest on the pillow. Ezra began kissing her neck and shoulder while his arms tightened around her body; her hands pushed firmly on and moved up and down his chest. She moved her face back from his neck so lips were just millimetres from his. She firmly, ardently placed her lips to his as he immediately returned the passion to her lips. They both pulled back and smiled at each other with gleaming eyes as Aria lay on her back and Ezra instantaneously put his body weight on top of her as they both smiled widely as their enthusiastically kissed. Her hands moved down his back and then round to the front of his pyjama pants as his lips moved to her neck before he began to bite softly while she began pushing down his pants.

Ezra and Aria emerged from their bedroom at 7:30am, both showered and dressed neatly for their day. They walked down the stairs and made their way to the family kitchen where 8-year-old Lily had already made a bowl of cereal for her and 3-year-old Olivia.

"You okay?" Lily asked concerned and with a glare in her eye, again that her mother had been known to display, Ezra thought with a smile.

"Yes we are, why honey?" Aria asked as she got a bowel from the cupboard for her and Ezra and passed one to him.

"There was all loud sounds and screams coming from your bedroom," Lily began as Aria smiled widely, her eyes choosing to focus on a spot on the ceiling while she thought of her response. Ezra blushed and took the opportunity to bail.

"I love you," he said to Aria, obvious to her why he took this time to go to work. He kissed her cheek enthusiastically, "I really love you," he whispered to her ear while she blushed and pushed him in the shoulder teasingly. Ezra grabbed a banana with him from the fruit bowl as he left for an alternative breakfast from his originally planned cereal. "And my princesses, love you too," he said as he kissed Olivia, then Lily on the cheeks before he ran unusually fast out of the house while Lily watched him with an observant scowl. She knew he was running away from her question, yet had no idea why.

"Lil, what I'll say is this; we're very, very okay," she said with a suggestive tone as she poured her cereal into her bowl. "And when you're married, you'll find out for yourself," she said beaming as Lily 'huffed' at the lack of information. Aria knew how smart their girl was though, advanced for her age; she'd get it earlier than her and Ezra would prefer, she thought as she smiled to herself, putting a spoon of cereal in her mouth while Olivia began pushing her fingers in amongst her coco puffs.

Aria and the girls had been home for about 30 minutes after school. Next month, Aria was commencing her masters in teaching, when the girls had settled into kinder and the new school year respectively. Aria had decided to teach high school, while Ezra was continuing to work the same job at the local University. He had made good friends with many of his colleagues, Aria and he going to their houses and having dinner and wine. He had is dream life, in every respect. After a year, Aria's almost full glass would be at its brim also.

"Hello," Olivia asked into the home phone after it had rung a few times. "Nana," Olivia shouted in happiness. "I'm good, I had kinder today. I played outside on the playground and then we did painting and, oh… yep, okay," Olivia said disappointed as the small brunette girl lifted her arms above her head with the phone clasped in her hands towards her mother. "She just wants you, she sound sad," Olivia said before running back to sit next to Lily who has assumed reading "The Secret Seven" in their library.

"Mum, what's wrong," Aria asked in alarm at what Olivia had conveyed.

"Do you remember when I was late the day of your and Ezra's wedding, and I asked Mike to take Lily to get her hair done and everything?" Ella asked hurriedly.

"Yeah mum, I remember. You didn't want to talk about it and it slipped our mind, I guess. Why?" Aria asked as she sat on her and Ezra's light brown leather chair next to the antique corded phone tight to her head.

"Byron was threatening to follow us, to your wedding. He had every intention of ruining it," Ella informed as Aria started shaking her head in response while taking a quick peek at the girls on the other side of the room.

"What, uhh, so what happened?" Aria asked astonished.

"I scared him off, said this wasn't the right way to make whatever point he was trying to make, ruining your day," Ella spoke softly. "But now honey, he's determined to find you again. I'm not sure of his intentions; but I know he's still not wanting to treat Ezra to a beer."

"Why, why now? What do you mean 'he's determined to find' me?" Aria asked, her throat closing a little.

"I don't even know why he keeps talking to me. We're not together and he won't leave me alone. Honey, he said wanted to give you time, that you'd come round to realising what you have with Ezra is a mistake. Now that it's been so long that you've been happy and are still not in contact with him; now I assume he wants to convince you," Ella sighed.

"I've known about this for a while, but now he's narrowing in on your town. He's investigating your small town and the one next door he told me, and hon, you know it won't be hard with Byron's connections to find where Ezra is teaching," Ella said sadly.

"Yeah, I know mum," Aria said with her eyes bright red now, tears threatening to fall. "What, what, do I tell Ezra not to go to work? I'm starting study there next week too," Aria reminded Ella.

"I know honey. It's up to you, you shouldn't have to live your lives under a rock. I'm going to leave that with you, I'm going to go to the police and find out how I can keep him away from me too. He's beyond obsessive, manipulating, quite frankly, the fact he won't leave me alone makes me sick. And there's that inspection at 5 I don't want to miss," Ella reminded Aria.

"Right, of course, for that house a few streets down. It would be so wonderful if you could see the girls more," Aria smiled into the phone, choosing to focus on that happy notion right now. She could panic about Byron when she hung up the phone.

"It would be baby. And I miss seeing you and Ezra, Mike does too," Ella said.

"Yeah, we miss you guys two. Mike's mini-me misses Godpapa that's for sure," she said sadly, looking at Lily who had commenced explaining the first "The Secret Seven" book to Olivia.

"I'll talk to you later, okay Aria?" Ella asked for confirmation.

"Yeah, yep, speak to you later, love you," Aria said as she hung up the phone quickly.

"Girls, get in the car, we're going to see dad," Aria announced loudly and gesturing her arms towards the door.

10 minutes later, the three of them were standing in Ezra's classroom door in the middle of a lecture.

"It's an emergency," Aria choked out. Ezra quickly looked at his class and gave a tight nod before he ran to his wife and daughters and led them to the corridor, closing the door behind him firmly as he did.

"Byron's on the prowl again, and apparently, he's focusing on this town and the next over. Ezra, he's going to find out that you work here," Aria said, dropping her girls' hand from hers as she walked to Ezra and put her hands on his chest. "He's going to find you," Aria said terrified as her fingers held Ezra's head as he lowered it in shock and fear. Aria kissed his forehead while he trailed his hands up and down her sides. "We have to get out of here," Ezra said before he turned and sprinted back into his classroom.

"There's 10 minutes left of class, and I have a family emergency. I'm trusting you can all work independently for 10 minutes. You're all adults, don't let me down. You'll have a sub, I expect for a few weeks. I'll be back when I can," Ezra said hurriedly.

"Fitz, you okay?" A boy from the fourth row screamed down to the lectern where Ezra was standing.

"Uhh no, but hopefully we will be soon," he said nodding towards Aria and the girls who were curiously looking up at the crowd with their huge doe eyes like their mothers. The girls smiled innocently at everyone who was smiling timidly at them, clearly nervous for the Fitz family, for whatever was happening.

"And," Ezra sighed and looked down, "I know how this sounds; if someone comes looking for me, can you say you've never heard of me? I'll explain when I get back. And can you ask Principle Murray to do the same? Tell him to call me if there's a problem," Ezra said with terrified eyes as the students nodded silently. They knew it wasn't something like running from the law, they knew it was something which also concerned his family. They respected their teacher enough to do as he asked. "Thank you all," he said with a tight smile, bidding farewell as he walked to join Aria, Lily and Olivia. He swung his leather satchel over his shoulder and brought Olivia up so her legs were wrapped around his waist as they left the classroom. Olivia looked over Ezra's shoulder and gave a wave to everyone that was staring, making a few people 'aww' and a and a few people smile at the small girl's happiness, even though she was clearly in a situation far larger than her.

"Why?" Was all Lily asked as Aria passed her her suitcase.

"We'll explain on the plane," Aria assured as Lily's eyes widened nervously. "Oh honey," Aria said as she kneeled down in front of her. "I promise, I'll tell you on the plane. Right now, we have to beat a clock. Dad and I need you to go and pack necessities; knickers and socks, pants, shorts, shirts and jumpers, and a few pairs of shoes. I'm going to do Olivia's suitcase and dad's doing his and mine. We're leaving in 15 minutes," she said furiously kissing her daughters hair as she then ran to Olivia's room to start packing. Lily's eyes followed her mother nervously before she swallowed deeply and puffed up her chest so she was taller. Mum was going to tell her later, right now she had a job to do. As she walked to her room, she saw her dad through his and mum's open bedroom door. He was throwing things of his and Aria's into a large suitcase. He paused and exhaustedly ran his hand through his hair before he resumed throwing Aria's clothes in again, followed closely by his own. 'Dad was scared' was all Lily knew, and so was mum.

13 minutes later they were all in the car, suitcases in the boot, passports in Aria's hand, Ezra and Aria's wallets filled with cash and their cards.

"Where are we going?" Olivia asked now starting to cry at the high intensity of the situation. She had no idea what was going on and just saw her parents panicked. Lily took Olivia's hand, though her eyes were crying too, to offer comfort. Aria and Ezra turned around to look at their girl's faces and screwed up their faces in anguish.

"What about Disneyland?" Ezra asked the girls.

"YEAH," they both screamed while Aria laughed, clearly in love with the plan too. Ezra put the car into reverse and they began driving down the road. As Aria passed an adjoining street, she could have sworn she saw a car that was exactly the same as Byron's heading towards their street.

**I hope you'll choose to review! It means a lot with the work that goes into a chapter! :D ~St0ryTeller xoxooxxo**

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><p><strong>I'm going to commence comments back in response to your reviews of Winter Wonderland chapter 31 :)<strong>

**PrettyLittleFan** You are beyond fabulously kind! Thank you for such kind words! And your wish is my command ;)

**Caligirl28** I can't even, I have no idea how to even reply to such kindness! :D Thank YOU for reading it! And I hope you do re read WW over time! :) I also hope you like this sequel!

**sandra1992** I'm back with another Ezria for you! :D And the happiness your comment gave me can't be put described accurately in words! I've never had a fan before! Your comment gave me tears, I'm so glad you loved the story! I hope you also like this one just as much! :D

**amberanoka** You are beyond kind! Far beyond! It's because of wonderful people like you that I'm still writing! I hope you enjoy this sequel too! :D

**princessjasmine12** Thank you very much! :)

.**dreamers** Thank you! I was debating to throw in drama, but I figured they deserved a happy ending (even if it turned out to be brief with my sequel). Thank you again! :D

**HarrylovesGinny09** Thank you! :D

**Notinyourlifetimehoney** Thank you! ;)


	2. Chapter 2

So bite-me-im-irish told me how to check stats, and I did..

**For Winter Wonderland, I have to date 21,905 hits on that story. Do you have ANY idea how hard it was to sleep last night after I finally checked that? I can't even, I am beyond flattered, shaking, and so grateful! Speechless doesn't actually encapsulate my feelings. I want to cry. I love you guys. I hope you'll all enjoy this story just as much! It won't let me do hearts, but I had three here to convey my feelings.. :D**

Another matter; should I keep recaps of the last chapter at the start? Yay or nay? I'll try nay, and see what people prefer. :) Let me know!

_*error correction* I had Aria was starting class 'next week' in the last chapter. I meant to change all of those comments to 'next month'; I must have missed that one in my editing ;)_

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><p>Lily and Olivia were screaming loudly whilst they turned sharply in their bumper car. They were sharing one car and Lily was driving while Olivia held onto the rim of the bumper car and was screaming louder than any other child in the area. Ezra interlaced his hand with Aria's while he kissed her forehead as they stood at the side watching their girls. The bright sunny day, an abundance of rides and an unhealthy amount of sugar meant the day felt like heaven. Aria's eyes tilted back to look in Ezra's, whose eyes stared firmly into hers. She turned and pressed her lips to his passionately, her mouth allowing his deepening of the kiss instantly; it was just what they both wanted. The girls were none the wiser as they played, while Ezra's hands trailed up and down Aria's back caressing her. They eventually pulled apart panting, mouths red and eyes glassy. He ran his hand through her hair while she snuggled into his torso and they turned back to watch their girls. Lily's coordination was brilliant for an 8 year old, and she was continuing to run her and Olivia all around the space, intentionally banging into people as she went, making her and Olivia scream even louder with laughter.<p>

"He WHAT?" Mike screamed at Ella as they stood in Ella's home. Ella had just told Mike where Aria, Ezra and the girls had fled and their reason why.

Mike had moved to a small apartment building in Rosewood, but naturally he and Ella still visited each other often; they were the only family members left in town after all.

"He's looking for Aria, Ezra and the girls. He's zoning in too. I can't believe he hasn't gotten the message yet. Actually, I can. He is absolutely delusional," Ella huffed as she raised the timbre of her voice while throwing her arms in the air. She took a deep breath before continuing. "He's focusing on their town, knows Ezra's profession; it's only a matter of time before he finds them, if he hasn't found their place already," Ella concluded shakily.

Mike sighed loudly and began fiddling with the loops of his jeans in anguish. "I'm going up there," he determined as he began charging out of the house. "Michelangelo, you will do no such thing," Ella growled at her son while holding his shirt in her clenched fist. "You'll draw attention to where they are. If he sees you, he'll know he's on the right path," Ella pleaded, but Mike had made up his mind. He hesitated for a moment before turning and looking his mother deep in the eye, and she lowered her hand from his shirt. "I'll just go and have a look around," Mike implored. "I'll make sure the university knows not to say where he lives, that they don't know him. I'll make sure their house has no unwanted visitors. In fact, I might go and stay there. Use my spare key. The house should have someone looking after it while they're away anyway," Mike concluded before he turned back to Ella. "I'm going to look out for my sister, brother and those beautiful girls. I have my phone," Mike said as he kissed Ella's cheek and left. Ella knew what he was doing was right.

"I… ahh… umm…." Olivia hummed while she sucked on her index finger whilst trying to make her decision.

"Oh come ON, Olivia! It's just Ice cream!" Lily said annoyed as she turned to the lady behind the counter. "I'll have the chocolate. NO NO, strawberry please," Lily said happily while Ezra placed his hand on her shoulder.

"The strawberry too please," Aria said.

"And for me too," Ezra chimed in before he and Aria turned back to look at Olivia.

"Liv honey, made up your mind?" Aria asked calmly as Olivia turned to look at her mother and smiled as she nodded. She turned back to the lady behind the counter.

"Rainbow, please," Olivia said, proud of her decision as her belly protruded as she swayed excitedly as her mum and dad smiled at her. 'She was growing up fast,' they thought while she smiled broadly at the ice cream that was being placed in her hands.

They found a free table and all sat down. They all began licking their ice-creams happily, in amongst the girl's excited shouting. This idea was perfect; Ezra and Aria thought as they watched their girls, his arm coming around her shoulder and kissing his ice cream covered lips next to her ear tenderly. She smiled in response and then continued to smile at their girls while they conversed with large arm movements and even louder voices. She made sure the girls were distracted and then she turned her face to his face while he smiled. She seductively licked and kissed the ice cream off of his lips as he smiled broadly and then mirrored her actions on her mouth. Their ice-cream free hands were brought up to each other's faces as they continued their small kisses and licks to taste the ice cream on each other. Their interlude couldn't last too long however, as their ice creams began to drip down their hands they redirected their attention to their icy treats.

"They're down," Ezra announced as he closed the girl's bedroom and made his way to Aria on the couch. He tucked up his legs as he sat and brought her in tightly to him as they both sighed contently in their cuddle. Her hand immediately went under his shirt, raking her nails up and down his chest as he gasped in surprise. He blinked boldly, registering what was happening, before he blindly placed his lips to her mouth while she continued. His hand climbing under her shirt and stroking her stomach in response, making her moan as she curled herself in his arms.

"Bed," she murmured against his lips as he lifted her 'honeymoon style' to their room at the other side of their hotel suite to the girls. The door closed behind them and they quietly proceeded. Aria lay down in the centre of their bed and pulled her shirt over her head, her skirt following not long afterwards as Ezra sighed at the sight. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on, and he wondered every day how he got so lucky. His love-filled look down at her as he zoned out staring in her eyes made her smile largely, "come here," she said adoringly. He ripped of his shirt and then climbed on top of her. Their kissing quickly moved from tender to passionate, before Ezra's hand fell to the centre of her back. She began pulling roughly on his hair while his lips found her neck and she let out a loud moan while she pulled him closer.

Mike pulled up in front of Aria and Ezra's place and saw a familiar car in the driveway.

"Shit," Mike shouted in his car as he abruptly parked his vehicle and charged his way into the home.

"What the HELL are you doing here?" Mike screamed at Byron who was sitting in Aria and Ezra's lounge room.

"Oh Mike, hi," Byron began as Mike allowed his eyes to wander the room. There was an empty scotch bottle on the floor next to Byron and Mike sighed frustrated before lifting his eyes to Byron's face once more.

"I just came here for a friendly chat and no one was here," Byron began; his arms erratic and his speech slurred as Mike watched on, his concern for this man's mental state rising rapidly.

"You can't be here, Byron. You're not in touch with them anymore. That's your fault too," Mike spoke honestly as Byron began to cry. 'This is too much for me' Mike thought as he went out to the front porch and started dialling on his phone.

Aria was wrapped in Ezra's arms as they rested. Their breathing heavy as they nuzzled into each other. 'We're staying here forever,' they both thought. Ezra already planned that the girls could last at least three days on the cereal they had in boxes in the kitchen, it's slightly conceivable that her and Aria wouldn't have to move until then. He laughed to himself, wishing ever so briefly that it was just them on this holiday, as he began nibbling on Aria's shoulder.

"Again?" Aria asked him as he shone loving eyes. She pushed aside her exhaustion and smiled while pushing herself on top of him. His hands immediately ran softly all over her back as they both moaned happily. Aria's phone then curtly began to ring obnoxiously loudly as they both groaned loudly in annoyance and frustration. She pushed herself up and grabbed her phone from the side table as his hand continued to lightly trace her bare torso with his fingertips.

Aria smacked his hand away. "Hey Mike," she glared down at Ezra who immediately ceased his movements. Ezra began locating his boxers so he could get a drink in the kitchen without running the risk of scarring his daughters. Aria smiled as he left while she listened to mike stutter and stammer as he struggled to find the words he needed.

"Oh for God's sake, Mike! What are you trying to tell me?" she shouted playfully at her brother.

"Byron's in your living room," was all Mike said and Aria dropped the phone. Ezra came in a minute later smiling proudly whilst carrying two orange juices for them. His eyes immediately fell on Aria who had frozen at the news. He placed the drinks down hurriedly as he ran to her.

"Aria, Aria," he said panicking as he ran and put his arms around her. "Please, what's wrong?" Ezra desperately asked. When he got no response from his frozen wife, he picked up her phone.

"Hey, what's happening?" Ezra asked Mike and Mike told him everything. That he heard what was going down, wanted to be a body in the house in case Byron wanted to try anything. That Byron had beaten him to the location and that their liquor cabinet had had a cleanout.

"Call the police? You have permission from us to be there, but he is trespassing," Ezra stated clearly as Aria's eyes turned to watch his face. He placed his hand in hers as he breathing started to have some regularity again. "Call us if anything else happens. Thanks Mike, we owe you," Ezra said before ending the call.

Mike did as asked and called the police, explaining everything to them; that the occupants of the house had left in fear of this happening, the history with these family members. Then Byron was hauled into the back of their police car, drunk off his arse with no idea what was happening around them.

"Mike, Mike," Byron squared just before the car door closed on him, the officer letting him talk.

"Mike I lovvvvvvvvveee you. What's happening?" he stammered as the policewoman closed the door on his conversation. Mike smiled thanks at the lady who smiled back sympathetically.

Mike went back in the house with the immediate intention of finding how Byron had gotten in. He called Ella, then Aria and Ezra and told them all what had happened, before he continued to find Byron's entrance. Mike found a smashed window at the side of the house. How the neighbours didn't call the police would remain a mystery to him. Or not, he thought; he decided then the go and thank them for being so neighbourly in the morning. He immediately got tape and a black plastic bag and began sealing off the window. He'd get someone to fix that in the morning also.

"Jesus, Byron," Ella screamed as she got to the police station. Byron was stuck in a cell, meaning Ella could should all she wanted without the worry of retaliation.

"Please, my head," Byron begged.

"NO! You broke into their house? What is WRONG with you?" Ella squarked.

"Can we talk about this later? Are they releasing me?" he began.

"No they're not bloody releasing you. You really think I'm here to make your bail? You're a moron. I came here to say stop harassing that beautiful family."

"But I'm family too," Byron began.

Ella cocked her head and grunted in frustration. "You chose not to be a long time ago. You have them terrified. That's just not right," she concluded.

"I don't know my granddaughters," he began to cry and he lowered his head. But Ella had seen this act before; though he was crying now, seemingly sorry, give him a few minutes. People don't change.

"You had Ezra arrested for child abuse when he had done nothing wrong! And you seriously think you have a chance getting back in their lives. Good riddance! And STOP contacting me. We're not together anymore; you're not a part of this family anymore." She concluded as she left the station. She was going to go and stay with Mike and Aria and Ezra's until everything died down. Lucky they bought a place with a few spare bedrooms, Ella thought, proud of her daughter and her family she reflected smiling as she proceeded to her car.

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><p><strong>Please review! Tell me what you think! :D<strong>

**First off, I turned on anon** for those shy people out there. I was shy too when I first came to the site, so I get it. Some people choose to remain silent, and I respect that. But if you ever wanted to say hi and keep your identity hidden, know that is now an option for my writing! I will never respond to cruelty though, just so anons out there know!

See THIS is why I didn't do individual thanks after reviews for so long; I forgot someone on my first try! Because a review for chapter 30 of Winter Wonderland was posted above the first review for chapter 31, my eye missed it when I was doing thanks. I read and loved the comment, as I said, it was my first comment! But upon returning to do my thanks, my eye missed it for that brief important moment sdjkaghsd

**bite-me-im-irish**** , wonderful ****bite-me-im-irish** I AM SO SORRY! Your comment was the first review on the final chapter, which I loved! And you taught me how to see stats which I btw am SO grateful for! So lovely girl, I am so sorry my eye saw the chapter 30 comment above and yours later slipped my eye. I'm so SO glad you loved Winter Wonderland from beginning to end! I always love your comments! So I am profusely sorry I didn't write a response, but that's how it happened. xx

**Winter Wonderland Chp 31 additional thanks since my last posting **

**HaleyJamesScottNathanScott** I am so glad you loved the story! You are so incredibly kind, and your comment made me smile so much! Thank you! :)

**SolitudeMyLove** Thank you thank you thank you so much! :D I'm glad you enjoyed it! Xx

**A Second Winter in Wonderland**** chapter 1 responses :)**

**GilmoreGirls945** I'm so glad you loved Winter Wonderland! Hearing that makes me so happy! A sequel is my pleasure! I hope you enjoy it! And my gosh you're way too kind! Thank you xox

**Caligirl28** :) Thank you, Thank you so much! I'm so glad you're looking forward to their journey! Everything else you said, I can't even, I am speechless but I truly want to hug your right now! And I'm a little teary! It means so much what you said, thank you! :)

**Notinyourlifetimehoney** Thanks! I love your ideas! ;) Hmm we may need to recruit some people from their past! ;)

**thehelloitsme** :D Thank you! I'm so glad you're happy! That's what I'm aiming for! ;D

**HaleyJamesScottNathanScott** ;) Sure thing!

**HarrylovesGinny09**for the drraammmaaaa ;D haha! But honestly, I knew when I wrote the final chapters to Winter Wonderland that I may have Byron as a threat, that that's why Ella would be late for their wedding day. I wasn't sure if I was going to have him ruin the wedding, if I would even bring up why Ella was late at all. I chose to wrap it up neatly where I did, but I feel like it wasn't done and dusted yet, and I wanted to wrap up my thinking from the end of the last story.

**LucyyyPLL**Sure! ;D xoxo

**bite-me-im-irish** Thank you! I love your comments! ;D

**LittleLiarxoxo**I OMG thank you so much! I am SO glad you're loving it! :D

**ncar08** Thank you very much! I hope you enjoy what is to follow! :D

If I ever miss you, please tell me. Unless you're screaming profanities at me, I intend to reply, so please let me know if I do that again!


	3. Chapter 3

**I hope you enjoy! And please review, anon or not! Or silently enjoy, but I don't hate when people comment! ;) Take care all! xox**

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><p><em>"Jesus, Byron," Ella screamed as she got to the police station. Byron was stuck in a cell, meaning Ella could should all she wanted without the worry of retaliation.<em>

_"Please, my head," Byron begged._

_"NO! You broke into their house? What is WRONG with you?" Ella squarked._

_"Can we talk about this later? Are they releasing me?" he began._

_"No they're not bloody releasing you. You really think I'm here to make your bail? You're a moron. I came here to say stop harassing that beautiful family."_

_"But I'm family too," Byron began._

_Ella cocked her head and grunted in frustration. "You chose not to be a long time ago. You have them terrified. That's just not right," she concluded._

_"I don't know my granddaughters," he began to cry and he lowered his head. But Ella had seen this act before; though he was crying now, seemingly sorry, give him a few minutes. People don't change._

_"You had Ezra arrested for child abuse when he had done nothing wrong! And you seriously think you have a chance getting back in their lives. Good riddance! And STOP contacting me. We're not together anymore; you're not a part of this family anymore." She concluded as she left the station. She was going to go and stay with Mike and Aria and Ezra's until everything died down. Lucky they bought a place with a few spare bedrooms, Ella thought, proud of her daughter and her family she reflected smiling as she proceeded to her car._

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><p>Aria and Ezra returned home two weeks later, hoping some dust had settled back in their home town, in their home. Their car pulled up in their driveway, and Aria and Ezra went straight to the back seat to help the girls out of the car, before giving each of them their wheel case suitcases so they could drag themselves and they started going towards their front door. Aria grabbed her bag from the boot and lowered the wheel suitcase to the floor. Ezra clasped his back in his hand and threw it over his shoulder as he closed the boot door. He and Aria stayed there for a moment.<p>

"Here we go," Aria said in a shaky voice as Ezra grabbed the side of her neck lovingly with his free hand, whilst he placed kisses on the other side. "We'll get through this," he whispered to her ear before they silently both began walking to their home.

"MONKEYS," Ella screamed when she finally opened the door to her granddaughters. "Oh gosh I missed you," she said as she fell to her knees and wrapped her arms around both girls at the same time. Their arms came around her back eagerly while they all smiled. "How was Disneyland?" Ella asked while they remained there, her question though prompting the girls to throw themselves out of the hug and start shouting and talking over each other excitedly while their hands flapped trying to tell their individual stories. Ella looked at them smiling in amazement as the girls went into great detail about their whole holiday in less than 25 seconds. Upon their conclusion, Ella lent down and kissed them both on the cheeks. "You girls go to the kitchen, Mike made you chocolate cake," she said before they bolted to the kitchen screaming 'CHOCOLATE CAKE'.

Just then Ezra and Aria finally appeared at the door and met eyes with Ella. Aria dropped her back and went into a hug offered by Ella while she sobbed a little. Ezra, not wanting to impose on their moment, began grabbing their bags that had been scattered in the entrance of their house and he pushed them to the side. They could be dealt with later.

When the girls separated, Ezra came forward "How are you, Ella?" he asked while kissing her cheek.

"I'm fine thanks, Ezra. It looks like you and the girls had a good time! They couldn't stop talking when they came in just now," Ella addressed to both of them. Ezra smiled largely reflecting on their trip while Aria responded.

"We had a wonderful time. It was a phenomenal holiday," Aria said happily. "And aren't we lucky we left when we did?" Aria asked with bold eyes at her mother, who sighed and nodded tightly in agreement.

"Well while you were gone, he made bail, he's out. He, he wants to talk to you," she informed Aria warily.

"He, wait, WHAT?" Aria screamed at her mother, "How do you know this?" she asked angrily. At the tone of her voice, Lily, Olivia and Mike all came running from the kitchen and Ezra stood there cautiously watching everyone's reactions.

"He left a letter on your porch yesterday. I recognised the writing so opened it, I hope you don't mind," she said solemnly as she when and got the envelope from the hallway table. "He'll be here in 2 hours. He wants to sort all this out," she said looking at Aria and Ezra with her eyes rolling slightly.

"But, don't you think that that.." Aria began.

"A complete and utter lie? Oh yeah sweetie, I do. But maybe you could tell him you're not interested?" Ella suggested.

"Yeah, like I haven't been suggesting that for the last 9 years." Aria said rudely to her mum her lowered her head whilst sucking on her top lip in response.

"I'm sorry mum. Fine, one more try. I'll hear him out. But only so he leaves me alone. He knows we live here anyway, so he'll keep plugging until I give it ago anyway," Aria said glumly as she went and pressed herself into Ezra's torso, his arms cradling her immediately as everyone silently watched her.

"SOOOOOOOOO," Mike began loudly to remind everyone of the two small girls in the room. "I have sandwiches made for lunch already, a jug of homemade lemonade," he paused when Aria glared at him. "I really made it alright? To celebrate you all coming home!" he justified as she smiled softly. "Come on, tell us more about this holiday girls! Did you meet Minnie Mouse?" Mike asked as he began leading everyone to the dining room table amid the girls 'Oh my God, yeah's!" and "we totally did's".

They all sat around and ate, sharing the wonderful stories of their holiday as Mike and Ella sat enjoying having them back. Ezra and Aria had their arms around each other, and Lily and Olivia kept moving on all levels on their chairs; sitting, to crouching to standing as they told their favourite parts of the trip.

"And then when we were on the bumper cars," she said laughing to Ella and then turning with the same face to Mike, "Mum and dad started kissing really grossly and they didn't think we saw," laughing hysterically as Mike choked on his drink. Ella turned to startled Ezra and Aria with wide 'please tell me more' eyes while the little girls continued to laugh.

"Oh, God," Aria said while Ezra remained frozen. Ella and Mike started laughing with the girls who thought it was the funniest thing in the world. You could have swarm Ezra swallowed his own tongue as he remained unmoving while Mike and Ella looked at the poor things while laughing hysterically.

"Well, wouldn't you rather a mummy and daddy who loved each other very much?" Ella asked Lily, trying to make the situation better.

"Of course! I'm just teasing. But if you could not do that when we're at school; that'd be awesome," she winked at her mum.

"We'll do our best bub," Ezra nodded before his hand started to rub Aria's thigh under the table, coaxing her out of her state as they both put smiles on their faces through their embarrassment.

"It's 3pm, the time Byron said he'd be here," Ella glumly informed everyone.

"Right, Mike, you stay here with the angels and keep feeding them insane amounts of sugar for the celebration of their homecoming. Ezra, Aria," Ella said reaching her hand to them with sad eyes. "Let's get ready in the living room," she said as everyone followed their instructions without further word. Lily and Olivia knew not to question, just to do what was asked of them. Though Lily would have liked to have known what was happening.

Byron knocked at the door painfully on time, and Ella went and let him in, bringing him to the lounge room.

"We hear you know this room already," Aria began sharply as everyone sat back down. Byron to the opposite side of the seating area as the other three.

"Aria," Byron began before swallowing deeply. "I want to make amends. This has been going on too long. It's time we moved on," he began, with the tone that he was the most considerate person on the face of the earth.

"Time we 'moved on'? Without addressing the issue? You can't be serious!" Aria spat back as Ezra clasped her hand in his.

"It happened a long time ago. I think it's time you got over it, frankly," he spoke truthfully as Aria sat there, jaw dropped and no sound coming out of her mouth.

Aria pushed aside her reflex of a scream in shock, she Ella decided to continue on. "So, are you willing to accept Ezra now?" Ella asked, agreeing with Aria's reaction, but trying to get all the facts on the table before it blew up.

"Oh God, no. I'm going to try and help you with that too my baby girl. See how sick he is," Byron said soothingly as he attempted to bring himself closer to Aria.

Ezra simply kissed Aria on the temple and stood to talk to join Mike and the girls in the kitchen. His temper raging at Byron wouldn't help his wife or his mother in law, and he chose to take the higher road by leaving. He knew Aria was going to blow him to pieces anyway. Watching Ezra walk away, Ella contemplated whether or not Ezra would come back dramatically and smack Byron in the face. She would have.

"Your letter sounded so, uh… like you wanted to accept what this was, try and be apart of it. I didn't believe it for a second of course, you're a snake of a man, spineless and moronic; I knew this would be a waste of time. I was wrong again, trying to work this out, forget it." Aria said as she began standing and going to follow Ezra.

She turned back half way around to say a final point, before Byron cut her off.

"I really want us to be happy Aria. It's time you stopped with these emotions and moved on, it's time we moved on." He said.

"The only chance of that happening involves therapy. You into that?" she asked him.

Byron scoffed. "We don't need to talk to anyone, we're fine," Byron said shaking his head at her stupidity.

Aria stood exactly where she was, rage fuming as Ella repositioned her stance in between the two. "Get out of my house, my life, forever, I mean it. Stay away. You will never know me, my husband my girls. I'm getting a fence, and a dog, maybe 2, that are bigger than you. Security doors everything. You are never to talk to me again, ever. The police will see to this," she stated bluntly. "Get him out before I kill him," she said to Ella who followed her daughter's ask. Ella took him by the forearm and literally kicked his arse as she pushed him out the door.

As Aria turned to the door on the other side of the room from where Byron and Ella had departed, she saw Lily watching through the crack of the door. Lily wasn't scared; she was just taking it all in. As Aria walked through the doors to join the others, Lily wrapped her arms around her mother.

"You're so brave," Lily complimented as Aria sobbed a little into her daughter's hair. After about 15 seconds of hugging, Aria finally responded. "Be grateful for your daddy honey. Not all are like him," she told her baby honestly. Lily pulled back with a single tear in her eye and nodded at the information, taking it seriously.

Not a day later, a 5 year restraining order had been lodged and approved against Byron for the whole rest of the Montgomery family. They could breath, it was done, permanent for 5 years.

"CHARADES," Mike screamed the next night after everyone had just finished dinner, making everyone jump or scream excitedly in response. "To celebrate my and Ella's final night here, and to celebrate those who had departed from their lives; I propose we play charades!" he announced proudly as the adults gave a 'thanks for this' look while Mike smiled victoriously while the girls screamed and ran to the lounge room to play.

"A, a dinosaur," Lily offered while they watched Ezra in front of them.

"Yes, well done," he responded excitedly, kissing her hair as he came back to join them all on the three seated couch. He went and sat next to Lily, picking Aria up and placing her on his lap as he did. Aria nuzzled in against his chest as they all redirected their attention to Mike who had jumped up in front of them for his turn. Everyone was laughing and enjoying themselves, enjoying what family was meant to be while Mike moved around like an idiot to get everyone to laugh as he also laughed.

"You're phenomenal," Ezra whispered to Aria's ear when they finally got to be by themselves in their bedroom much later in the evening, after the games had finished with the family. Everyone else had been in bed for half an hour. Aria had her back to their wardrobe as he began placing kisses down the side of her face and neck. He began biting in the crook of her neck and shoulder as she gasped and pulled roughly on his hair before she brought his face up to deeply kiss him, her hands comfortable against his chest as he pulled back briefly and smiled happily whilst looking into her eyes.

**Tell me what you think! :D Peace brothers x**

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><p><span>Chapter 2 review comments:<span>

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	4. Chapter 4

_As Aria turned to the door on the other side of the room from where Byron and Ella had departed, she saw Lily watching through the crack of the door. Lily wasn't scared; she was just taking it all in. As Aria walked through the doors to join the others, Lily wrapped her arms around her mother._

_"You're so brave," Lily complimented as Aria sobbed a little into her daughter's hair. After about 15 seconds of hugging, Aria finally responded. "Be grateful for your daddy honey. Not all are like him," she told her baby honestly. Lily pulled back with a single tear in her eye and nodded at the information, taking it seriously._

_Not a day later, a 5 year restraining order had been lodged and approved against Byron for the whole rest of the Montgomery family. They could breath, it was done, permanent for 5 years._

_"CHARADES," Mike screamed the next night after everyone had just finished dinner, making everyone jump or scream excitedly in response. "To celebrate my and Ella's final night here, and to celebrate those who had departed from their lives; I propose we play charades!" he announced proudly as the adults gave a 'thanks for this' look while Mike smiled victoriously while the girls screamed and ran to the lounge room to play._

_"A, a dinosaur," Lily offered while they watched Ezra in front of them._

_"Yes, well done," he responded excitedly, kissing her hair as he came back to join them all on the three seated couch. He went and sat next to Lily, picking Aria up and placing her on his lap as he did. Aria nuzzled in against his chest as they all redirected their attention to Mike who had jumped up in front of them for his turn. Everyone was laughing and enjoying themselves, enjoying what family was meant to be while Mike moved around like an idiot to get everyone to laugh as he also laughed._

_"You're phenomenal," Ezra whispered to Aria's ear when they finally got to be by themselves in their bedroom much later in the evening, after the games had finished with the family. Everyone else had been in bed for half an hour. Aria had her back to their wardrobe as he began placing kisses down the side of her face and neck. He began biting in the crook of her neck and shoulder as she gasped and pulled roughly on his hair before she brought his face up to deeply kiss him, her hands comfortable against his chest as he pulled back briefly and smiled happily whilst looking into her eyes._

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><p>"Mummy, daddy," Olivia screamed as she chased Lily around the park. "Look at us," she screamed with a bright, toothy smile before she and Lily started laughing again. "You're it," she shouted proudly when she tapped Lily on the arm, before immediately starting to run for her life in the other direction. The girl's dresses moved in the wind behind them as they ran while they continued to play for a considerable period of time, their brunette long-length hair also trailing freely in their dust.<p>

Ezra had his arms tight around Aria's frame as they lent against each other on a picnic rug so they could keep an eye on the girls. He cradled her head against his chest as she lent her body weight on him, he not complaining in the slightest. She laughed as she watched as Olivia was again it, and she began chasing Lily through crowds of other children. Ezra smiled and watched Aria's face as she laughed. His lips went to her neck and he kissed her tenderly while his hand caressed her stomach. Her eyes closed and she hummed as her body reacted to his. She sucked in a breath as her hand moved to his thigh behind her and she caressed up and down as they began to get lost.

"MUM," Olivia screamed, throwing Ezra and Aria out of their state like a punch in the head. Lily wasn't far behind, and she stood next to Olivia while they both smiled hopingly. "Those kids there," Olivia turned towards two kids and their parents who smiled and waved at Aria and Ezra, "They want to play tag with us. Is that okay?" she asked Aria, whose eyes shot open approvingly before she even spoke.

"Yeah, of course baby. Just still stay where we can see you, okay?" Aria asked as Ezra's arms tightened around her core and drew her closer as she spoke.

"Okay," Olivia said, as Lily replied "Sure" at the same time. The girls ran to talk to the other kids, then they all ran to the centre of the grass.

"Look," Ezra said as he motioned towards the parents who just waved at them. "They're watching the girls. That means we get 2 minutes to…" he said as his lips went towards her mouth

"No, we have to be good parents," she said as he used his puppy dog eyes on her. The sight broke her as her lips threw themselves against his instantly; his hand caressed the back of her head as her hands ran down to his stomach. Aria pulled back breathless as his lips moved to her shoulder, his hand to the top of her pants.

"We're in public," she shouted and started smacking his shoulder. "There are children here. People will call the police. Stop. It," she concluded as she smacked his hand back a few more times as he laughed. He of course wasn't going to do anything inappropriate at such a site; but he loved getting her riled up. "Sleepover for the girls at Grandpapa's tonight?" Aria offered with raised eyebrows, a flirtatious voice and a smile that made Ezra a slave every time he saw it.

"Yes, please," he said as he intertwined their hands before they both turned back and watched the girls. Olivia was it and she no longer looked impressed by the game. She was standing still now as the older girls ran faster away from her; she simply couldn't keep up. This was a time it became overwhelmingly evident to her that she was so much younger, her legs shorter. Olivia began to break as her chin wobbled and her hand flew to her eye to try and mask the tears.

"Oh no," Aria said as she threw herself off the picnic rug and ran after her baby, Ezra wasn't far behind.

"I got you," Aria said as she lifted the tiny girl, whose hands enveloped her mother's head instantly as she sobbed. Ezra bent down to the girls and kissed Olivia's forehead before turning back to Aria.

"I'll go and grab Lily. Time to go home?" Ezra asked Aria, already agreeing with her unspoken answer as he headed off to Lily and the other two girls.

"Bye," Everyone said aloud at once as Mike carried Olivia in his arms, his 'mini me' Lily by his side carrying her and Olivia's shared bag for the night.

"AND NOT TOO MUCH SUGAR, MIKE. I MEAN IT! And make sure they brush their TEETH," Aria screeched from the house as he and the girls ran excitedly to the car. For some reason, every time they went to stay with uncle Mike; they were as excited as Christmas eve, all of them, even Mike. Aria was so glad they all had such a good time and had that strong bond. Mike loved those girls, Aria thought to herself happily as she went back into the house.

"Ezra?" Aria asked as she checked all of his usual hiding places. "Ezra?" She asked again, thinking 'oh great, someone's kidnapped my husband' as she walked around the strangely silent house. Aria ran her hand through her hair as she slowly walked the corridor of the second story, releasing a deep, peaceful sigh as she did. She didn't often now get chances to take some time out.

She pushed the door to her and Ezra's room open, her head watching the floor as she entered the room without a thought. As her hand closed the door behind her, she noticed the room was darker than it usually was at this time of day, and candle light lit the room. She looked up finally at their room and her draw simply dropped in response. Their curtains were draped, the room similarly was draped in candlelight from an estimated 15 candles that had been lit around the edges of the room. Rose petals had been scattered in a path from the door to the bed and Aria let out a soft chuckle as she realised this was all for her.

"Wow, your husband must be, UH-MAZING," Ezra said as he came behind her from the hallway, wrapping his arms around her.

"Yeah, he's alright," she teased as she turned herself around in his arms. "I love you," she said as her index finger grazed his cheek, then down his neck and then down the front of his shirt as he sucked in a gasp.

"I love you, today as much as I did when we met. You still have me equally speechless," he said with the most love-filled and sincere eyes Aria had ever seen, even from him. She smiled in response as he took in a sharp breath in anticipation. Her lip pressed against his fluidly, before rhythmically moving against his as they started to dance together. His hands pulled her waist in tightly, his palms moving across her mid back occasionally, before going back to hugging her while they continued to kiss. They walked back towards the bed, before they collapsed onto it, Aria having led the way. They smiled as they crawled up so her head was on the pillows and she motioned for him to take off his shirt. Her tongue grazed his bottom lip making him gasp aloud, her ceasing the opportunity to deepen their kiss while her arms began roaming the built muscles of his upper arms, sighing as she did so. His hand reached under her shirt making her moan and then smile at him before he kissed her again before ripping the shirt over her head.

The next morning, after many displays of affection and love during the evening; Ezra lay with his arms tight around Aria's back while they slept longer, and slept in longer than usual. With no kids in the house and recent exuberant amounts of exercise being had meant they were dead to the world. He slowly opened his eyes, and stared at the face like that of a sleeping angel that was nuzzled into his chest. She was perfectly content, perfectly comfortable, and would most likely not move for a good hour yet. Ezra kissed the tip of her nose softly, before smiling while putting his head back down on the pillow.

"Hey," Aria said about an hour later, as Ezra had predicted. "You been awake long?" she asked as he remained completely unmoving from before.

"No no, just woke up," Ezra said with a sheepish smile, though Aria knew he wasn't being completely honest and she smiled at his kindness. She kissed a line of kisses down the centre of his bare chest, stopping at the base of his ribcage before she came back and wrapped her arms around his torso, her head snuggled against his neck as they both smiled, completely content and at peace and helplessly in love.

"SURPRISE!" Lily screamed as she threw open the door with Olivia just behind her.

"SHIT, what time is it?" Aria asked Ezra not expecting an answer before she looked at the clock beside the bed. "IT'S 12pm?" She screeched as Ezra blushed. There hadn't been a time set when the girls would be coming back; this time evidently Mike had decided to be earlier than normal. Aria relaxed and smiled at the now nervous Ezra, before she kissed his lips swiftly. "Sorry I shouted" she whispered to him as he shook his head. The girls then threw themselves on the bed with them, parents without pyjamas remaining under the sheets deliberately while the girls threw themselves around the top of the doona.

Mike came into view in the door, and he smiled at the scene he had interrupted.

"Hey A-hole," Aria said in an 'overly friendly' tone as he smiled gleefully that he had ruined his sister's moment. "You didn't learn from the last time you just walked into our room?" She asked as she pulled the doona further up so it was around her neck protectively.

"See yeah, I did. But, it's more fun this way," he said mischievously as he met eyes with the girls and they all laughed, though didn't particularly have any clue as to why; they just thought their surprise was a good one.

"Girls," Ezra began, "Would you mind going to the kitchen and getting the muffins from the cupboard?" he asked and they scurried away.

"Michelangelo, could you leave now?" Aria added after the girls had gone, and Mike rolled his eyes in response.

"You're welcome," he offered as he left.

"But seriously, thanks for taking them!" Aria shouted after him. She knew he would have smiled at that, though he was too brooding to make a reply. She'd call him and thank him properly later, she thought.

"Quick," Ezra said as he grabbed pants from the closet and threw a night gown at her so the kids would be none the wiser when they came back with the family's muffins. They dressed and crawled back under the covers just in time.

"I WANT CHOCOLATE," Aria announced to the girls as she heard their footsteps approach their doorway. "HAHA LIV," she screeched as her youngest already had her face literally in a chocolate muffin, clearly making the most of it before she got to her parents. It was all over her pudgy cheeks and her little rosebud mouth as she mischievously looked up at Aria and Ezra who giggled at their girl and how adorable she was.

"PHOTO TIME," Aria announced as she reached for her phone beside the bed and took a photo of Olivia before she could hide. Lily laughed as she crawled back on the bed and close to Ezra and he patted her on the knee before taking the apple muffin she offered him.

"Thanks angel," he said as she gave him a huge blushing smile in return before she started picking away at her own muffin.

"Come on my chocolate muffin," Aria said, gesturing towards Olivia who eagerly climbed in with mum and went under the covers. "And my other chocolate muffin," she said as she reached for the free chocolate muffin on the plate. "This is perfect," Aria told the three people she loved most in the world as the crowded around each other, all smiling happily at her agreeing with the sentiment of what she had just said.

**Hit me up a review? Please? :) Take care! xox**

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><p><strong>bite-me-im-irish<strong> Hahahaha aww thank you :D

**Notinyourlifetimehoney** Byron so does, right? ;) I JUST deleted my twitter! But if I cave or make an new one, I'll let you know! :D

**princessjasmine12**THANK YOU! :)

**Caligirl28** Thank you so much, you're so kind! :D

**HaleyJamesScottNathanScott** :D Ohh I like! Let me think about that one! ;)

**HarrylovesGinny09**Thank you! :)

**LucyyyPLL** THANKS, I'm glad! :D

**amberanoka** You're so kind, thank you! :D And oh hahaha sorry about that! I'm writing a lot more than usual right now, which means sometimes things like that are getting lost! I'm secretly trying to keep you on your toes ;) :P

**PrettyLittleFan** You're also way too kind, thank you! :D I like their moments too! I'll include more! :D

**WWKMDbracelets** HAHAH thank you! :D


	5. Chapter 5

_"Hey A-hole," Aria said in an 'overly friendly' tone as (Mike) smiled gleefully that he had ruined his sister's moment. "You didn't learn from the last time you just walked into our room?" She asked as she pulled the doona further up so it was around her neck protectively._

_"See yeah, I did. But, it's more fun this way," he said mischievously as he met eyes with the girls and they all laughed, though didn't particularly have any clue as to why; they just thought their surprise was a good one._

_"Girls," Ezra began, "Would you mind going to the kitchen and getting the muffins from the cupboard?" he asked and they scurried away._

_"Michelangelo, could you leave now?" Aria added after the girls had gone, and Mike rolled his eyes in response._

_"You're welcome," he offered as he left._

_"But seriously, thanks for taking them!" Aria shouted after him. She knew he would have smiled at that, though he was too brooding to make a reply. She'd call him and thank him properly later, she thought._

_"Quick," Ezra said as he grabbed pants from the closet and threw a night gown at her so the kids would be none the wiser when they came back with the family's muffins. They dressed and crawled back under the covers just in time._

_"I WANT CHOCOLATE," Aria announced to the girls as she heard their footsteps approach their doorway. "HAHA LIV," she screeched as her youngest already had her face literally in a chocolate muffin, clearly making the most of it before she got to her parents. It was all over her pudgy cheeks and her little rosebud mouth as she mischievously looked up at Aria and Ezra who giggled at their girl and how adorable she was._

_"PHOTO TIME," Aria announced as she reached for her phone beside the bed and took a photo of Olivia before she could hide. Lily laughed as she crawled back on the bed and close to Ezra and he patted her on the knee before taking the apple muffin she offered him._

_"Thanks angel," he said as she gave him a huge blushing smile in return before she started picking away at her own muffin._

_"Come on my chocolate muffin," Aria said, gesturing towards Olivia who eagerly climbed in with mum and went under the covers. "And my other chocolate muffin," she said as she reached for the free chocolate muffin on the plate. "This is perfect," Aria told the three people she loved most in the world as the crowded around each other, all smiling happily at her agreeing with the sentiment of what she had just said._

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><p>Ezra and Aria held hands as they walked down the centre of a lit corridor. With the smell of floor soap and cleaning products fresh in the air, they were certain they were in the correct location; Lily's school after hours. They were content however as to why they were there; parent-teacher conferences, where Lily never proved to be a problem. They could hear their girl was on track and happy in class as both already knew they were qualities she possessed. Being amazingly intelligent for her age and bouncing off the walls with enthusiasm in every task were qualities her parents had come to admire about their girl. They reached the door to Lily's class room and met eyes before either of them reached to open the door.<p>

"You ready?" Ezra asked Aria kindly.

"Let's do it," Aria smiled in reply before reaching for the handle to the classroom. They were perfectly on time. The teacher looked up from her desk and smiled as Ezra and Aria entered the classroom.

"Hello, I'm Ms Page. It's wonderful to meet you both," she extended her hand excitedly to both Ezra and Aria. They welcomed the greeting with smiles and kind regards back, then all sat down to get ready for the conference. Ms Page had red hair, naturally curled, pinned neatly in a loose bun atop of her head. She was young enough to be wearing a blouse and skirt clearly passed down from her mother, yet didn't ever look like they had been warn they had been so well looked after. She possessed an alternative charm to the modern world; she was comfortable in her skin, intelligent and aware of each individual student in her classroom. You could tell, she was there for the kids. Aria sat wondering if there was any possibility that any child could ever slightly dislike her; she seemed wonderfully kind and exuberant.

"Lily is wonderful, and I'm not just saying that," she began as both Aria and Ezra blushed, immediately believing her sincerity.

"She clearly is a reader, yes?" she asked quickly to both parents before she went to continue. Ezra and Aria both nodded. "Her imagination is amazing, wonderful. The detail in her stories, the originality; I'm going to assume one of you, or even both of you are writers." She said confidently.

"Yeah," Ezra said shyly as he cleared his throat. "I have two books out," he went to point to Aria.

"And I'm writing my first right now," she smiled warmly at the teacher, who looked borderline like she was going to jump and hug the two of them she was so happy her assumptions were correct.

"See, that explains it. That freedom of expression and nurturing of imagination as she grew up, definitely the reason she is so intelligent today. Well, I have nothing negative to say. She's good at every subject, interacts warmly and often with her peers, jumps into every task with enthusiasm, and is always striving to improve. She's even asked me for extra homework in the past. But I believe they already get enough for their age, which isn't too much; I don't want to bog her down with more work," she said cheerily as she nodded at Aria, who felt the immediate response was to nod back with equal excitement.

"I wanted to run something by the two of you. My class and the other year 3 classes have a play every year. The teachers direct and the kids get on the stage and have fun with it. We normally pick something already written, but we were wondering if Lily would like to write it? Of course we're running it past you two first, but we believe Lily could create a play for the kids with ease. And she'd love to do it, I'm sure. She wouldn't receive any other homework while she's writing it, of course. She's already at least a year ahead in her work, so she won't fall behind," Ms Page paused and looked at Ezra and Aria who were smiling proudly back at the teacher. "So, what do you think?" the teacher asked the two of them. They looked to each other and smiled reading the same in each other's eyes.

"We'll ask her, see if she wants to take it on," Aria smiled at Ms Page who clapped excitedly.

"Oh good, that's great. Thank you," she smiled before looking to her papers in front of her again to make sure nothing had been missed.

"Anndd… that was everything! Thank you both for coming in. And please call me as soon as you know Lily's decision on the play. This here," she passed a card to Aria "Is the theme. See what she says," Ms Brown smiled kindly at them both.

"Thank you, very much," Ezra said kindly to Ms Brown as his hands on both of Aria's shoulders causally pushed her out the door with Aria turning behind her to smile at him occasionally.

"I am SO PROUD," Aria screamed as soon as they hit the hallway, no doubt to either of them that the teacher would have heard that perfectly. "What do you think?" she asked Ezra.

"I think she could hack it. We could help if she needed," he offered as Aria read the piece of card in her hand again.

"It's only to be a 15 minute play. We'll ask her when we get home," Aria beamed as Ezra lent down and kissed her lips warmly. Aria's hand grabbed his chin as they moved their lips against each other a few times roughly. They separated and grabbed hands again whilst they smiled, before commencing walking out of the school and heading to their car.

Lily watched from her bedroom window as her parent's car drove into the driveway after her parent-teacher conference. Whilst she had never been in trouble in school and always did her work, she was still a little nervous. She pushed her curly brunette hair out of her face as she sucked in a deep breath, calming and preparing herself for the situation like you'd visualise an adult doing. She pushed her dress straighter down her front and made sure she looked extra neat before she ran down the corridor, down the stairs, and greeted her parents as they entered the house.

"Someone's eager to know how it went," Aria said as Lily threw her arms around her stomach. At age 8, Lily's head was almost to Aria's shoulder. The fact that her eldest was going to be, at least the same height as her was a fact Aria had come to accept a long time ago.

"Hey bub," she said as she kissed Lily's hair. Ezra came behind Aria to open his arms for a hug towards Lily, who immediately accepted the gesture, throwing her body against his as he crouched down to her height.

"So, that's all?" Lily asked nervously after they shared the new of the meeting with her as they sat in the lounge room.

"Uh, yeah, yeah it is. Why?" Ezra asked Lily nervously.

"No, I wasn't expecting anything. I just made myself nervous, that's all. And I'd love to write the play. And you guys will help if I need, right?" she asked between her parents.

Aria smiled reassuringly, "Yeah of course. We'll make sure there are enough parts for all the kids, that the story is succinct. You can do this, it's in your blood," she said with a wink as Lily blushed and nodded to herself proudly, knowing indeed she could do this.

"Thanks," she said happily as she jumped up to run upstairs to play with Olivia.

"We're going to have to start to call Olivia 'chocolate muffin', I think," Ella said as she came and joined Aria and Ezra downstairs. "The child would eat them all day if she could. Placing a limit on how much she can eat makes her give you a death glare and a half," she said wearily as she laughed towards Ezra and Aria.

"Oh yeah, I've been there when I told her she couldn't have anymore. But I love that glare, it's the same as her mother's," Ezra said reflecting warmly as Aria snapped her head to show him the glare he seemed to be so fond of. He looked up in her eyes and became immediately uneasy, also remembering in that moment that that glare from her also had the power to scare the hell out of him. Ella observed their interaction and laughed heartedly.

"So…. The kids were no trouble?" Ezra began as he turned back to Ella, desperate to change the direction of what was happening.

"No, they were fine. Perfect," she said kindly. "I heard the end of what you told Lily; she's writing the year 3 play, when she's in year 3?" Ella asked proudly. Ezra and Aria nodded as a beaming smile grew on Ella's face. "She's the only child her age who could handle that. You've done an amazing job with her. Love you both," Ella said as she clasped her handbag in her hand to head home.

"Oh hey, how'd looking at that apartment go?" Aria asked as Ella got to the front door.

"Oh I completely forgot, when you were gone just now, I got the call; I got it. I'm moving in next week," she said ecstatically as Ezra and Aria's face mirrored her emotions.

"That's wonderful! We'll help you move in of course," Ezra offered while Aria continued to beam at Ella.

"It will be wonderful having you just 10 minutes away. We've missed having family nearby," Aria said as Ella smiled in response.

"I know hon, and I miss you all like crazy so far away. Okay, I better go. I'll speak to you soon Aria. Bye girls," Ella screamed up the staircase.

"BYE NANA," Was screamed down the stairs shockingly loudly which made all the adults laugh.

"Bye," Ella said again as she left.

"Should we make Lily her favourite meal tonight?" Ezra asked Aria who immediately smiled and nodded before grabbing her keys.

"Now girls," Ezra began when he had them seated at the dining room table. "We had a problem in the kitchen, the oven broke, and well, the bad news is, we are only able to have boiled vegetables for lunch," he informed them sadly as both girls became immediately disappointed.

"Surprise," Aria said as she carried in a piping hot paper packet of fish and chips. "In honour of you, Lil. We're so proud of you honey," she said warmly before kissing Lily on the forehead once more. Aria sat the package down in the centre of the table and immediately tore the paper so everyone could dig in.

"AND there's cake in the fridge I got for desert, no biggie," Aria teased as both the girls screamed happily. Lily jumped off of her chair and ran to the fridge. "CHOCOLATE," Lily shouted happily as Olivia screamed a huge YESSS.

"But here's the deal, because you've both already had a chocolate muffin with nana Ella, youre only allowed one piece of that cake today so you don't turn into chocolate," she teased as both girls agreed with what their mother was saying.

"Gang, I'm proud of you all. Now, let's eat," Ezra announced happily as Aria's hand crawled to his knee under the table. He smiled kindly at her before their attention was taken by the girls who started throwing down their fish and chips like they'd never seen food before in their lives.

**Xox **

**Homies; reviews dipped at the last chapter, and was about half of that of usual. I see heaps of people are enjoying the story, so I'm still happy! But I just thought I'd point that out.. Spesh since it was a sweet chapter. Let me know if you're not feeling it even? I want to write what's interesting for the people! ;) **

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><p><strong>Thank you so much reviewers! :D<strong>

**PrettyLittleFan** Hahaha thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed it! I loved their little family bonding sesh, and that the parents got some time too! ;)

**princessjasmine12**AWW thanks! :)

**HaleyJamesScottNathanScott** That's a wonderful idea, I'll do that at some point in the story! :D

**bite-me-im-irish**** hahaha **aww thank you! :D

**Caligirl28**Thank you so much! I love their family moments too! :) And thank you so much! That means so much to me! I've never written so much in my life as recently, and I was starting to frazzle a little from the work; so I'm very glad it hasn't gone unrecognised. Thank you again, I really mean it! :D

**HarrylovesGinny09** Hey thanks so much! :)


	6. Chapter 6

_"Oh I completely forgot, when you were gone just now, I got the call; I got it. I'm moving in next week," she said ecstatically as Ezra and Aria's face mirrored her emotions._

_"That's wonderful! We'll help you move in of course," Ezra offered while Aria continued to beam at Ella._

_"It will be wonderful having you just 10 minutes away. We've missed having family nearby," Aria said as Ella smiled in response._

_"I know hon, and I miss you all like crazy so far away. Okay, I better go. I'll speak to you soon Aria. Bye girls," Ella screamed up the staircase._

_"BYE NANA," Was screamed down the stairs shockingly loudly which made all the adults laugh._

_"Bye," Ella said again as she left._

_"Should we make Lily her favourite meal tonight?" Ezra asked Aria who immediately smiled and nodded before grabbing her keys._

_"Now girls," Ezra began when he had them seated at the dining room table. "We had a problem in the kitchen, the oven broke, and well, the bad news is, we are only able to have boiled vegetables for lunch," he informed them sadly as both girls became immediately disappointed._

_"Surprise," Aria said as she carried in a piping hot paper packet of fish and chips. "In honour of you, Lil. We're so proud of you honey," she said warmly before kissing Lily on the forehead once more. Aria sat the package down in the centre of the table and immediately tore the paper so everyone could dig in._

_"AND there's cake in the fridge I got for desert, no biggie," Aria teased as both the girls screamed happily. Lily jumped off of her chair and ran to the fridge. "CHOCOLATE," Lily shouted happily as Olivia screamed a huge YESSS._

_"But here's the deal, because you've both already had a chocolate muffin with nana Ella, youre only allowed one piece of that cake today so you don't turn into chocolate," she teased as both girls agreed with what their mother was saying._

_"Gang, I'm proud of you all. Now, let's eat," Ezra announced happily as Aria's hand crawled to his knee under the table. He smiled kindly at her before their attention was taken by the girls who started throwing down their fish and chips like they'd never seen food before in their lives._

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><p>With Aria's head pressed tightly against his chest, his right arm draping over her shoulder; he brushed her ribcage with his had soothingly as he read aloud. Dinner had been eaten and Lily and Olivia had just gone to bed. Ezra and Aria were snuggled up on the couch in the library downstairs, there was not a sound but Ezra's voice. Their breathing matching in relaxed pace, they became lost in the world described in the novel clasped in Ezra's hand. Aria buried the bridge of her nose against his chest, kissing his body tenderly. A smile formed on his mouth and he let out a peaceful sigh as she nuzzled her head back into his chest again, before Ezra resumed reading. Aria's hand extended around Ezra's ribs so she was hugging him tightly before she peacefully closed her eyes. Ezra noticed her nodding off and continued to read with a smile on his lips, wrapping his right arm even tighter around her small frame.<p>

"Dad, can we make pancakes?" Lily asked when Ezra and Aria came down stairs to their kitchen the next morning. Lily and Olivia had clearly been up for a while and had been itching to ask. "Because it's a Saturday, and my first play rehearsal isn't for two hours, there's time!" Lily informed her father, who nodded with open eyes, knowing there was absolutely no way to get out of it even if he wanted to.

"Of course, let's get the ingredients," Ezra told her as they both headed for the kitchen cupboard.

"How'd you sleep, Olivia?" Aria asked as she picked her youngest daughter up and sat down with her on her lap. Lily nuzzled her head into Aria's chest, much like she had with Ezra the night before. Olivia was still clearly waking up and was sleepy to say the least.

"Mummy, I've been thinking for a long time. I want to learn how to play the violin," she told her before her big doe eyes turned around to meet her mother's, filled with hope.

"Well, daddy and I would have to talk about it. But you learning and instrument sounds like a great idea," she said cuddling her baby tightly while she smiled. Aria turned around to meet Ezra's glare, which was panicked and shaking furiously. A 4 year old with a violin would not be the most soothing of ideas.

"DAD," Lily shouted as she grabbed the flour from the shelf, the last ingredient they had to get and tried to regain his attention.

"Right, uh, yeah. Sorry, Lil," he said as he began collecting the necessary utensils for the project.

"This isn't a good idea. What's wrong with the piano?" Ezra asked his wife when they were alone a little later. They were in their bedroom, standing either side of the bed as they talked, Ezra pacing a little as he spoke. "Don't get me wrong, I think her learning an instrument is wonderful; but have you heard screeching violin strings at the hands of a child? It's not peaceful, that's for sure," he said sighing lightly, letting his hands flop down to a neutral position. "I'm sorry, I just…" he began with a dramatic change in tone. "Aria, I'm sorry. You know I want our girls to do whatever hobby they want. I just had a stressful day at work is all; which is no excuse," he reflected sadly, disappointed in his behaviour with his head lowered, his hands fumbling against each other.

Aria tilted her head as she quickly went to where Ezra was standing. She clasped his hands in hers and their eyes met lovingly. In that look, she reminded him that everything was, and was going to be okay. She then placed his arms around her back before pressing her body to his in a tight hug, both of them closing their eyes as they savoured the sensation. Their hands briefly roamed each other's backs before they sighed contently and drew even closer to each other.

"You want to talk about it?" Aria asked softly, breaking the silence while they remained in their embrace.

"Not now, later, please?" Ezra asked of her before he kissed the top of her head longingly, her hands falling to his lower back in response.

"Thank you everyone for coming," Ms Page told the group of 3rd graders on the Saturday afternoon. "Today, you're all going to find out your parts. We're also going to start blocking, acting out some scenes," she shared happily. It was common knowledge throughout the class that Lily had written the play. Ms Page, unsurprisingly to her, had been over the moon with Lily's work, as had the other teachers involved, including the principle of the school. Lily's friends were impressed, and everyone was happy for her. Considering the pettiness of some children usually, the situation for Lily was a dream. As she was so content with herself, happy and confident; all other children in the class had accepted her literary skills with open arms, praising her work boldly while she modestly smiled.

"Now Lily, would you do the honour of reading out the parts that me and the other teacher assigned to every student?" she asked as Lily jumped to her feet and grabbed the sheet to begin. Everyone looked up at Lily and she wasn't shy, nor shaken by the situation; she realised that she enjoyed being in such a position. It was then she was pretty certain she worked out the rest of her life.

"We're home," Ezra shouted when he and Lily arrived back later that afternoon.

"Mum's upstairs," Olivia said while sucking on her thumb, chocolate cake smeared on her shirt. Ezra's immediate thought was 'oh God, how much has she eaten this time?' "She's writing," Olivia proudly piped up before running back to the kitchen.

"NO MORE CAKE," Ezra shouted after Olivia before he started heading up the stairs.

"I'll watch her," Lily offered maturely, calmly, before she set off to the kitchen. Ezra nodded at Lily, before he began climbing the stairs.

Ezra knocked on Aria's ajar study door.

"Come in. Hey," Aria said soothingly when she saw who was at the door. "How did it go?" Aria asked as Ezra bent down to kiss her lips tenderly. "Ms Page said she did wonderfully. All the kids are enjoying their parts and the play. It's definitely starting with a good foot," Ezra reflected happily, before smiling even bigger at Aria. "When do I get to read this?" Ezra asked before reaching over her towards her computer.

"Nope, no no, not yet," she said as she slammed her computer screen shut, narrowly missing Ezra's fingers. His head had frozen near hers, and she immediately turned with a smile on her face while he remained focused ahead. She raised her hands either side of his head to clasp his face in her hands as she commenced kissing and nibbling at his ears, making Ezra laugh; definitely not moving now. Her tongue started to trace the very edge of his ear as she physically watched his whole body shudder.

"Aria, the girls," he reminded her before they separated reluctantly, both groaning knowing they had to. Later, they both thought; Aria sitting in her chair still while Ezra went to leave the room.

Ezra was on top of Aria. His hands alternating between keeping his body weight off her as much as possible to gently touching her face or running through her hair as they kissed. His hand lifted from her hair and proceeded to trace up her rib cage, so lightly that she was gasping into their kiss. She pulled on his hair before they gave a joint finishing kiss. Other things were on their mind. Ezra stared deep into her eyes before he fell to his side of the bed, sad in presence.

"Do you want to talk now?" Aria asked worriedly as she crawled to her side next to her husband. Her hand extended to brush down his cheek while he grew increasingly uneasy.

"For the next few weeks, I have to co-lecture with a colleague." He began before taking a deep breath. "Saying this man hates me is probably an understatement. Last time we had to work together, he ripped me apart in front of all the students, on unfounded, ridiculous things. He's this cocky, arrogant man who thinks he's superior to me. And what am I meant to do? Go back at him in front of the students? How unprofessional would that be? So, I just have to take it, and try and go on with the lecture" Ezra concluded.

"Why does he treat you that way?" Aria asked quietly while concerned and upset for him.

"The dean told us we both had impressive resumes for our age, impressive records. I guess, he's trying to shake me down so I'm lower. Sounds childish, doesn't it?" he asked her softly, slowly intertwining his hand with hers that was lying on the bed.

"It does. But unfortunately, some adults have never actually grown up," Aria reminded him sadly. "So, a few weeks?" Aria asked. "Why?"

"Three weeks to be exact, so about 12 lectures. We're just to both share what we had already planned. Upon seeing what we were going to present, the dean thought us sharing both sets of 'wonderful ideas' would be 'inspired'," Ezra said rolling his eyes a little.

"Well, it's obvious he thinks you're both brilliant teachers. I can only suggest keeping your cool. Your students know you're a good man, just afterwards, maybe tell this other teacher to back off? Or tell the dean?" she suggested whilst rubbing the back of his hand with her thumb. "You're a wonderful teacher, and man. Don't let him get to you so much. I'll help you get through it," Aria said suggestively, hey eyebrows raising before she crawled so her chin were atop of his chest. His hand traced her bare back under her shirt.

"Really?" he replied flirtatiously before he eagerly pressed his lips to hers while her free hand flew up to cup his face as their kiss deepened immediately.

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><p><strong>I had a few days off; my body kind of shut down on the writing. But now, I think I've 'rebooted' if you will. :D Please review!<strong>

**GilmoreGirls945** Thank you so much! I'm so glad! :D

**Princessjasmine12** They do, don't they? They're so adorable! Thank you! :D

**bite-me-im-irish** Thank you! :D

**LucyyyPLL**Thank you, I'm glad you thought so! :)

**Notinyourlifetimehoney**lol thank you so much! :) I'm glad you enjoyed it! Oh yeah, my interest in twitter goes up and down; but I'm generally happier without it, I'm finding anyway! :D

**HarrylovesGinny09**Thank you! :D

**amberanoka**No you're fine! I like when you do review though! ;) Oh thank you! :D I imagine Lily as a mini Ezra with her love of literature, in the classroom, and with the looks of Aria. Gosh that kid would be adorable! Again, thank you so much for being so kind! :D

**Caligirl28**Thank you so much for such amazingly kind words! It truly means a lot to me, thank you! :D

**HaleyJamesScottNathanScott** ;D done and done!

**Aoibheann** Haha thank you very much! :) I hope some parts aren't too confusing with their past events (such as Byron and all that). I'll do a little note at the start of a chapter if something comes back up from Winter Wonderland, and give a little summary for you! ;D Though that should hardly happen as these are mostly all new events in their lives!

**PrettyLittleFan**Hahahaha thank you so much! :D I'm glad you're also proud of Lily; I am too! ;)

**msbookworm93**You are so wonderfully kind! Thank you! :D


	7. Chapter 7

**Megan was Aria's friend in Winter Wonderland, when Byron sent her to Iceland to boarding school to get her away from Ezra! I intended to put that at the start of the chapter, my apologies! :)**

**This is for PrettyLittleFan, get better bby :D xox**

_"For the next few weeks, I have to co-lecture with a colleague." He began before taking a deep breath. "Saying this man hates me is probably an understatement. Last time we had to work together, he ripped me apart in front of all the students, on unfounded, ridiculous things. He's this cocky, arrogant man who thinks he's superior to me. And what am I meant to do? Go back at him in front of the students? How unprofessional would that be? So, I just have to take it, and try and go on with the lecture" Ezra concluded._

_"Why does he treat you that way?" Aria asked quietly while concerned and upset for him._

_"The dean told us we both had impressive resumes for our age, impressive records. I guess, he's trying to shake me down so I'm lower. Sounds childish, doesn't it?" he asked her softly, slowly intertwining his hand with hers that was lying on the bed._

_"It does. But unfortunately, some adults have never actually grown up," Aria reminded him sadly. "So, a few weeks?" Aria asked. "Why?"_

_"Three weeks to be exact, so about 12 lectures. We're just to both share what we had already planned. Upon seeing what we were going to present, the dean thought us sharing both sets of 'wonderful ideas' would be 'inspired'," Ezra said rolling his eyes a little._

_"Well, it's obvious he thinks you're both brilliant teachers. I can only suggest keeping your cool. Your students know you're a good man, just afterwards, maybe tell this other teacher to back off? Or tell the dean?" she suggested whilst rubbing the back of his hand with her thumb. "You're a wonderful teacher, and man. Don't let him get to you so much. I'll help you get through it," Aria said suggestively, hey eyebrows raising before she crawled so her chin were atop of his chest. His hand traced her bare back under her shirt._

_"Really?" he replied flirtatiously before he eagerly pressed his lips to hers while her free hand flew up to cup his face as their kiss deepened immediately._

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><p>The next few weeks in the Fitz household weathered a range of weather like emotions from all four occupants. Aria was doing final read throughs of her book, stressing about absolutely every small detail. Naturally, she wanted it to be perfect before it was sent off to the appropriate people. Every chance he got, Ezra simply wrapped his arms tightly around her back while she was sitting in the chair, and kissed her neck or hair to remind her to relax.<p>

The third grade play was going amazingly well, with Lily having the absolute time of her life. A girl in the class moved suddenly to another school, leaving a role that needed to be filled. Lily immediately assumed the role, one which requires many lines, and Lily was having a ball. When Aria or Ezra picked her up, she was exploding with excitement and joy that only a 9 year old would likely radiate with such innocent happiness.

Olivia, after 2 lessons, had been bought a violin by her parents. It was a ¼ size violin, absolutely tiny to everyone in the house, but for Olivia, it was perfect. That instrument was played from 6am to about 7pm when the rest of the house finally cracked it and she put it away in her violin case, her head still singing with music.

Ezra's working with his colleague, Dr. Phillips was quite possibly one of the most stressful events of his life, after Byron, of course. Ezra came home every evening after a joint lecture had been had and he just sat in the library, a glass of scotch in his hand while he blankly stared at the wall opposite him. He sat in the single seater brown leather chair every night for those few weeks, not talking, not moving. Aria didn't push him to tell her the details; but it was clear to her this wonderful, strong man was being tortured. Every day after work, she'd let Ezra be by himself for about 10 minutes, before she told the girls to watch television and she went to join him. Without words, Aria would crawl onto his lap and nuzzle into his side. His free arm would immediately start strumming up and down her ribcage while she kissed his neck and the side of his face. His breath would change and calm, he would come home, and ever so briefly, leave the current tortures from work behind. Only one lecture left, Ezra thought. Then he could get back to the work that he loved.

Usually sitting in silence for ages, tonight Ezra put down his drink and put his hands either side of Aria's face, bringing her focus towards him. He applied soft kisses to her lips, both of them silently humming amongst the sound of their lips together. With a smile, Aria stood and changed position so she was now straddling Ezra's lap tightly. Her hand ran through the back of his hair as he smiled towards her mouth before her body began to rock on his. Doors were closed, girls busy with Disney Channel; slowly Aria and Ezra's clothes began to be shed.

Bare, fulfilled, with the feeling of home and love in their bodies; they stayed nuzzled for ages afterwards; each other's company completing the other. Aria's hand moved across his chest, his hand was tracing light circles on her lower back while they remained in the chair, a soft red blanket usually draped over the back of the chair keeping them warm.

"MEGAN," Aria screamed as she ran out the front of her house. "You said you were coming, I know. But my God, here you are! Hi," Aria squealed as she dropped Megan's hands from hers and instead wrapped her arms tightly around her friend.

"It's so good to see you. Now, I want to see Ezra and meet your beautiful girls I've heard so much about," she excitedly breathed before she kissed Aria on the cheek.

"Oh, and you brought someone with you, that's right. What's his name?" Aria remembered when she heard bangs coming from the car.

"His name is Ryan," Megan excitedly told her friend before she turned around to see where he was.

"Ryan?" Aria asked lightly, her body going into a panic.

"Yeah," Megan happily replied before she saw her friend's change in tone. "Why, do you know him?" Megan asked as Ryan came into view. Aria knew him all right, but maybe Megan didn't need to ever know about that. Aria shook her head to answer Megan's question.

"No, no I don't know him," Aria responded weakly, loud enough though that Ryan could also hear. "Come on, meet the family," Aria said enthusiastically as she grabbed Megan's hand in hers and walked her into the house.

"I'm Lily," Lily piped up while standing in the hallway.

"And I'm Olivia," she said proudly, her little pot tummy again making an appearance.

Ezra stood behind the girls with his hands on their backs.

"Nice to see you, Megan. Welcome to our home," Ezra shared happily before going and giving her a hug.

"Nice to see you, Ezra. And this is Ryan," Megan gestured behind her and Ryan came and met her hand with his. Though Ryan's gaze was stuck on Aria, who was between where both parties were standing. Ezra noticed immediately and began growing uneasy, also noticing Aria's uncomfortable fidgeting not far away from him.

"Girls, would you mind taking our guests to the kitchen so they can have a snack after their travels," Ezra asked the girls. Biscuits and coffee had already been set out for the guests. "Aria," Ezra said as he gestured his head upstairs to their bedroom. Aria glumly followed, knowing this was going to be fun.

"How do you know him? Did you know he was coming?" he started shouting at her when they got to their bedroom.

"No, I didn't know he was coming. I didn't know who she was bringing," Aria said lowering her head and sitting on the edge of the bed.

Ezra grew sadder, knowing she had deliberately left out a part of his questioning. "And how do you know him?" Ezra weakly asked, his crackling emotions no secret to Aria right now.

She took a deep, unsteady breath before holding a pause. "We dated, in Iceland," she finally shared. As she heard Ezra swear under his breath. "It hardly lasted any time at all, I swear, it was for about 2 weeks. I had Lily in me, I was terrified and alone by myself. It was before Megan and I were even friends. It started not long after I got there. I was trying to deal with not having you there. We only ever kissed, even then, there was always something missing. No one could ever replace you," Aria honestly shared.

Ezra went and sat next to her, putting his hand amongst hers in her lap. His thumb trying to comfort her by rubbing her hands, making her turn her face more towards him, still not yet looking at him.

"I get it. Do you think he knew he was coming to see you?" he asked her.

"I have no doubt. Even though it was a short time, he never left me alone after we broke up. Professing his love for me whenever he could get me alone, which by the way, usually consisted of him grabbing my arm and moving me away from people. It was scary, it made being away from you so much worse," she sobbed, her head now against his shoulder.

"Fortunately, we have the extra guest room off the garage. We'll just say they can have 'couple time' if they stay out there, and we'll lock the doors at night so you and the girls are safe. They're only here for a week, and to see Lily's play," he said as his arms wrapped tightly around her.

"Yeah, we'll get through it. Just, stay by my side, yeah? I don't think he's over it. His look towards me was invading," she said haunted still by that memory. "Megan wouldn't have any idea of our past," she concluded before standing and reaching for Ezra's hand. "Let's go back downstairs, watch the girls," Aria said and Ezra nodded.

"Hi," Megan excitedly greeted when Ezra and Aria came and joined them in the kitchen. "Lily was just telling us about the play, we really can't wait to see it. Can we, Ryan?" she said and Ryan quickly replied.

"No, no we can't wait," he said to Lily before his eyes wandered back to Aria without hesitation.

Ezra's arm wrapped tightly around Aria's shoulders, telling Ryan to step back a little.

"So, Ryan, how long have you two been together?" Ezra asked, attempting to sound interested in the topic.

"Ahh since, since just about the time Aria left. Isn't that right, Megan?" he asked while his hand travelled her back. Aria and Ezra's eyes glaring at the sight.

"That's right, babe," she replied before turning back to Aria. "Oh my goodness, it's just so wonderful to see you. And your girls are perfect," she said before putting her arms around Aria again. Aria smiled warmly at having her friend in her arms, and hugged her back adoringly. Ryan was glaring at Olivia and Lily after Megan's 'perfect' comment, and immediately both looked at Ezra in fear. He gave a tight look to the girls, who both knew they had to watch themselves for the duration of this visit. Megan let out a laugh as she began rocking side to side in the hug with Aria, whose eyes nervously met Ezra's.

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><p><strong>Princessjasmine12<strong> THANK YOU! :D

**PrettyLittleFan** hahahahahhaha ohh you're just the sweetest! Thank you! :D

**HaleyJamesScottNathanScott**:D

**Notinyourlifetimehoney**Hmm something I hadn't considered in their storyline.. I'll keep that in mind ;)

**msbookworm93**Hahahahha thank you! Can't you just imagine that character tearing his ears off at a small girl with a violin? Lol! :D

Thank you kind reviewers! :D Please review!


	8. Chapter 8

**I just very simply had one of those days today. We all have them. Every single one of you who are reading this story blow my mind; and I'm more grateful for you than you know! :)**

**So, I'm updating another chapter for you today! Hope none of you mind ;D xox**

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><p><em>"Hi," Megan excitedly greeted when Ezra and Aria came and joined them in the kitchen. "Lily was just telling us about the play, we really can't wait to see it. Can we, Ryan?" she said and Ryan quickly replied.<em>

_"No, no we can't wait," he said to Lily before his eyes wandered back to Aria without hesitation._

_Ezra's arm wrapped tightly around Aria's shoulders, telling Ryan to step back a little._

_"So, Ryan, how long have you two been together?" Ezra asked, attempting to sound interested in the topic._

_"Ahh since, since just about the time Aria left. Isn't that right, Megan?" he asked while his hand travelled her back. Aria and Ezra's eyes glaring at the sight._

_"That's right, babe," she replied before turning back to Aria. "Oh my goodness, it's just so wonderful to see you. And your girls are perfect," she said before putting her arms around Aria again. Aria smiled warmly at having her friend in her arms, and hugged her back adoringly. Ryan was glaring at Olivia and Lily after Megan's 'perfect' comment, and immediately both looked at Ezra in fear. He gave a tight look to the girls, who both knew they had to watch themselves for the duration of this visit. Megan let out a laugh as she began rocking side to side in the hug with Aria, whose eyes nervously met Ezra's._

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><p>"He creeps me OUT," Lily screamed after Megan and Ryan had gone to get settled in the guest room off of their garage.<p>

"ME. TOO," Olivia said firmly as Aria let out a big sigh.

"Yeah, he does all of us," Ezra said swallowing deeply and briefly allowing his attention to fall to his hands on the counter.

"It's just a few days girls, okay? Then they're going back to Iceland," Aria said, trying to pick up the spirits of her family. She felt tremendous guilt; like it was her fault he was here, even though she had no idea he would ever come back in her life.

Ezra crawled into bed last. Aria was already snuggled in under the covers, and Lily and Olivia had asked if they could join them. Of course, Ezra and Aria said yes. None of them feeling particularly safe in their own home. Ezra smiled at his girls, Lily and Olivia were already asleep, and Aria's eyes held on him nervously. Ezra thought, though he loved the picture in front of him right now, that this was going to be a long week indeed. The girls in their bed and Aria that petrified; he couldn't comfort her over the girls.

"Aria," Ezra whispered before he walked over to her side of the bed and knelt down so their faces were level. "I want nothing more than to hold you in my arms right now, hold you as you fall asleep," he told her truthfully, protectively before his index finger stroked her cheek as her face shone at him.

"Move Lil to your place, we can scooch in here," she suggested, and he immediately reached over Aria's body and scooped up Lily, who was too sleepy to really know what was happening. He placed her in his side of the bed and tucked the doona around her shoulders snugly, before kissing the top of her head while his hand grazed her cheek. He stood and walked back over to Aria, who had already moved in towards the centre of the bed so he could easily join her.

They remained face to face on their sides. Aria very simply placing her head and arms tight in the centre of his chest and his arms enveloped her immediately, both sighing relived that they could be together tonight. Aria placed a small kiss above the top of his shirt before she held her face there against his neck, her head being comforted also by the pillow. Ezra smiled before he ran his hand over her back under the covers.

"Where's Ryan?" Ezra asked the next morning in the kitchen. Lily, Olivia and Megan were there already. Megan was cooking them pancakes. Ezra smiled at her warmly, understanding immediately why Aria adores her; she was a dear friend already to his girls after less than 24 hours.

"He's talking to Aria, outside, I think. Okay, who wants food?" she asked the girls brightly.

"I do," they both screamed making Megan laugh and look at Ezra. He forced a tight laugh in response before he immediately went off to find Aria. He reached the back door and caught a sight through the window; Ryan's lips on Aria, who had remained unmoving while they stood. Ezra held his place and continued to watch. Ryan pulled back, his hands removing themselves from her shoulders and he walked back into the guest room connected to the garage calmly. Aria was still unmoving, whether she was in shock or had torn feelings was a mystery to Ezra. His heart twinged at seeing such a sight; she wasn't fighting Ryan off that he could see; she had accepted the kiss.

His life and world immediately felt like it was slipping away from him. He had never even considered Aria not being in his life. He didn't know what had just happened, nor what was going to happen now; but he knew he was on the verge of sobbing right then and there.

"What happened?" He asked her as soon as she entered the back door.

"What? Nothing happened!" she shouted back.

"Yes it did, I just saw it. I saw you two kissing. I have no idea how to even look at you right now," he shouted at her, immediately making her cry.

"No Ezra, please. I'll explain, please don't leave me," she said clutching his upper arm, trying to prevent him from leaving the room. It wasn't doing any good, so she kicked the door he was heading towards closed with her foot sharply. No doubt Megan, Lily and Olivia would have heard the kafuffle. Aria pushed Ezra's back so his face was against the door. She held him there weakly, he wasn't protesting.

"He threatened the girls, said he'd hurt them if I didn't shut up and stand still, Ezra," she spoke in a sob as her head pressed into his back while she spoke. He closed his eyes in pain at himself; of course he should have considered that, and not immediately flipped out.

Ezra turned to her and lifted her up in his arms, her legs wrapped around his upper hips tightly while their arms became even tighter around each other. Ezra lifted his wife out to the kitchen, to Megan, more specifically.

"We need to talk to you," he said to Megan who immediately saw Aria's condition and started to panic. Lily and Olivia sat on the barstools at the kitchen island bar with open, worried eyes; having not seen their parents in such a position before.

"I don't believe this," Megan said, hurt.

"It's true," Aria sobbed "all of it, it's true," she said to her friend, crying.

"No, I believe you. I just don't believe I could have been such a fool," Megan said ashamed, her head falling into her hands before she wiped the tears from her eyes. "Years I've wasted with that man, and I knew all along something wasn't quite right. I should have trusted my instincts," she said with regret before looking at Ezra.

Not 20 minutes later, Megan had left and come back, having broken up with Ryan. She came into the library to meet Ezra and Aria and helped herself to a glass of scotch while they watched her, all remaining silent.

"He's leaving in the morning. I hope you don't mind if I stay, I missed you so much, Aria. And I'm really excited to see Lily's play!"

"Of course you're welcome," Aria said happily, going and wrapping her arms around Megan warmly. "I'm sorry," Aria said.

"Don't be, thank you," she offered back.

Middle of the night, Aria left the bedroom to go to the bathroom. She had pried herself out of Ezra's arms and had been careful not to disturb the girls who were still in their bed. Megan had taken residence in Lily's room for now, even though her feet were a few foot over the edge of Lily's smaller mattress.

Aria reached the bathroom at the same time a hand came over her mouth. He whispered for her to remain silent, but she immediately bit on his hand whilst kicking her heel into his groin, and Ryan fell to the ground screaming. Ezra and Megan ran out from their bedrooms to see Ryan, a crippled mess, groaning in agony on the floor. Lily came to open the door, when Ezra caught it from her.

"Stay inside girls, good girls," he said as he closed the door and they did as they were told. He turned back to Aria who was shaking uncontrollably. She collapsed as Ezra's arms came out towards her. Megan was in shock, staring at Ryan who was in a foetal position on the floor. Her arms were hugging her around her chest while she registered what was happening.

Megan held her arms around Aria ask they looked out a second story window. With only one shoe on Ryan, Ezra was dragging him and his bag out of the house towards the waiting taxi (cab, depending on your country? ;)). Ryan could be heard shouting in pain, and the girls observed the concern on the taxi driver's face as he watched the men on the lawn. Ezra threw Ryan's bag into the taxi driver's arms as he got out to help, and Ezra tightened his grip on the scruff of Ryan's shirt, yanking him up so he was standing on his feet.

"Don't you DARE come near my family again. Don't go near Megan again, you hear me," Ezra screamed straight into his face while he held him centimetres away from his face. The driver caught onto what was happening and opened the taxi door for Ezra, who then semi-threw Ryan into the back seat. Ryan landed on his side across the back seat. The driver slammed the door shut before turning back to Ezra.

"If you could drive around with him for a few hours, instead of going straight to the airport, I'd really appreciate it. Here's his credit card," Ezra happily offered to the man, who nodded understandingly at Ezra before he got back in his car.

Ezra, barefoot, began walking back to his house to make sure everyone inside was okay. He jogged up stairs, locking the front door behind him, and he immediately was met with four pairs of eyes, who were anxious for news. Ezra softly smiled and Lily was the first to smile in response, walking towards her dad and hugging him tightly, Olivia not far behind.

Aria and Megan stayed still, still feeling out of the situation. "We need a drink," Aria announced as she grabbed Megan's hand and started dragging her downstairs while winking at Ezra.

"Come on babies," Ezra said to the girls, as he walked them back to their bedroom. "Let's get you settled back in mum and dad's bed," he said as he tapped their bottoms and pushed them into the room while they ran and laughed before a loud thud of jumping on the mattress was heard through the house.

"Tomorrow, I'm going to show you around town. Get some good memories into you," Aria tried to laugh and make Megan smile. Megan did immediately smile while their elbows were intertwined.

"I'm looking forward to it, American sister," she said kissing Aria's cheek. "It's taken me over 9 years to get here, we're definitely doing that," she said with a wide smile as the girls walked down to the library room.

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><p><strong>Any ideas for what Aria and Megan could do? I have an idea, but an extra wouldn't hurt anyone.. ;)<strong>

**Prettylittlefan** ! :D hahahaa I'm so glad it ceased your coughing, at least for a little bit! I'll do that; thanks for the idea! :)

**Notinyourlifetimehoney**Hahaha there is a bit of a theme, isn't there? ;D

**GilmoreGirls945** Thank you! :D Lol I can totally see Ezra kicking someone's arse if he was riled up enough to. God that would be so hot lol! ;D

**HaleyJamesScottNathanScott** I love that you always say that! ;D

**Caligirl28**I'm sorry! I meant to explain who Megan was! I've gone back and put it at the start of the last chapter now! Megan was Aria's friend in Winter Wonderland. Byron hated Ezra's guts for reason's different to the show, but he wanted Aria away from Ezra so badly that he sent Aria to Iceland for boarding school, and she was early in her pregnancy with Lily at the time. That's where Aria met Megan, and Megan helped get Aria and Ezra back together! :) No, please don't be sorry! I had a moment, it happens to all of us! I always love your reviews, thank you! :D And NEVER be sorry for a long review! I'm giving you a long reply too hahaha!


	9. Chapter 9

**In Winter Wonderland, though they didn't feature very often; all of Aria's friends are still around, including Alison ;)**

**And just a little thing that made me smile; when I wrote Winter Wonderland, not everyone believed my interpretation of Byron being and arse, and I also had Aria sent away to boarding school. So yeah, that made me smile that they both came up in the show :)**

**Oh and not show, but in the books Ezra wears glasses (can you imagine that guy in glasses? Hamana), so I've put a little ode to that in this chapter. Yum. Ciao :)**

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><p><em>Megan held her arms around Aria ask they looked out a second story window. With only one shoe on Ryan, Ezra was dragging him and his bag out of the house towards the waiting taxi (cab, depending on your country? ;)). Ryan could be heard shouting in pain, and the girls observed the concern on the taxi driver's face as he watched the men on the lawn. Ezra threw Ryan's bag into the taxi driver's arms as he got out to help, and Ezra tightened his grip on the scruff of Ryan's shirt, yanking him up so he was standing on his feet.<em>

_"Don't you DARE come near my family again. Don't go near Megan again, you hear me," Ezra screamed straight into his face while he held him centimetres away from his face. The driver caught onto what was happening and opened the taxi door for Ezra, who then semi-threw Ryan into the back seat. Ryan landed on his side across the back seat. The driver slammed the door shut before turning back to Ezra._

_"If you could drive around with him for a few hours, instead of going straight to the airport, I'd really appreciate it. Here's his credit card," Ezra happily offered to the man, who nodded understandingly at Ezra before he got back in his car._

_Ezra, barefoot, began walking back to his house to make sure everyone inside was okay. He jogged up stairs, locking the front door behind him, and he immediately was met with four pairs of eyes, who were anxious for news. Ezra softly smiled and Lily was the first to smile in response, walking towards her dad and hugging him tightly, Olivia not far behind._

_Aria and Megan stayed still, still feeling out of the situation. "We need a drink," Aria announced as she grabbed Megan's hand and started dragging her downstairs while winking at Ezra._

_"Come on babies," Ezra said to the girls, as he walked them back to their bedroom. "Let's get you settled back in mum and dad's bed," he said as he tapped their bottoms and pushed them into the room while they ran and laughed before a loud thud of jumping on the mattress was heard through the house._

_"Tomorrow, I'm going to show you around town. Get some good memories into you," Aria tried to laugh and make Megan smile. Megan did immediately smile while their elbows were intertwined._

_"I'm looking forward to it, American sister," she said kissing Aria's cheek. "It's taken me over 9 years to get here, we're definitely doing that," she said with a wide smile as the girls walked down to the library room._

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><p>Then there she was, Ezra thought with his body overtaken by joy. She was centre to the stage in her first play, radiant, and her energy bubbling infectiously into the audience. She was meant to be there; you could see, anyone could see. Her soul was sparkling, she was sparkling, and in that moment, Lily felt complete; on top of the world. Aria's hand tightened around Ezra's as they watched, before lone tears graced their faces as they snuggled in together, watching their daughter. Aria continuing to watch Lily with her head rested against Ezra's shoulder, the side of Ezra's face gently rubbing against her hair to let her know his emotions, his pride of Lily was right there with her feelings. Megan sat next to Aria, with Olivia on the other side of her, both smiling brightly up at Lily on the stage. Olivia was borderline about to run out of her seat to join her sister, Megan noticed her slight shift in body positioning in the seat and gently held onto her shoulders while she giggled. The joy beaming from Olivia as she watched was palpable; she had beyond admiration for her sister. Visitors from out of town, Hanna, Spencer, Alison and Emily were all there to support the family. All living so far away from each other now made opportunities to see each other few and far in between; but all had been able to come and stay and watch Lily's acting and writing debut in the world of theatre.<p>

Mike and Ella sat on the other side of Ezra, Ella resisting clapping as soon as she saw Lily go onto the stage. You could feel her body fluttering; watching her granddaughter in such a role so young, Mike of course was proud of his mini-me, and just watched her as proud as anything. Though nothing had been talked about out loud on the issue; it had become obvious to Ezra that in the 24 hours that Mike and Megan has gotten to know each other; it was clear there was more than just a little something between them. Mike's nerves had come out; a woman he already adored; the man was a mess. Ezra assured Aria he would try and help his brother in law out later on the whole 'make sure you breath when you talk to her' thing, that he himself had taken so long to master when being in Aria's presence.

"Congrats baby," Aria shouted across the foyer of the theatre, over the crowds and to a running Lily. Her face was alive and saying she had a toothy-grin would have been a wild understatement. She ran into her mother's arms while her bag dropped on the floor. Lily then pulled back from the hug, and Aria ran her fingers through Lily's hair.

"Did you like it?" she asked Aria, before looking up at Ezra too for his response.

"We did," Aria said.

"You were wonderful, and the play was done so well. You were wonderful baby girl," he said as he lent down and hugged Lily tightly. Ezra was embarrassingly proud of his girl right now, and could have gushed for so much longer than he did. He was also coordinating holding back very real tears of pride, so was handling a lot at once.

"Hey Lil," Mike came behind Lily and said happily, holding a small bouquet of flowers too for her.

"WOW, thank you," Lily said before she jumped up into Mike's arms.

"Ahh," he said as he caught the third grader snug in his arms.

"You know Lil, if you hadn't been born with your mum's petite frame; you would have knocked me on my arse right then," he said laughing, and Lily also laughed in response.

"MIKE," Aria screamed. "Language, children," she said annoyed before looking at Olivia to see if she understood. Mike and Lily went back to laughing happily.

Mike's eyes searched around as Lily's hand tightened around the back of his neck for support. She analysed the sadness and searching in his face. "Uncle Mike, what's wrong, you okay?" she asked him worried, making him flutter back to reality.

"Yeah, uh, I'm okay Lily, I just..." he said before Megan caught his eye again, and he smiled at her in a dreamy state, before he remembered Lily in his arms and he lowered his face embarrassed. "I…" he began to explain, before being at a complete loss for words as Megan continued to walk towards them.

"Hey you two! Well done, Lily, you were wonderful up there!" she genuinely complimented making Lily genuinely smile, in a more mature than normal tone for the circumstances.

"Thank you," Lily politely said before swinging her legs around Mike, asking to be let down.

Mike snapped out of wherever he was as he looked at Megan in front of him and he helped Lily to the ground.

"See ya," Lily casually said and she slowly began to walk away. She turned back to see Megan and Mike unmoving, not speaking, yet both smiling awkwardly; both clearly having the same thoughts. They liked each other, Lily thought. It was beyond obvious, and boy did her uncle suck at this.

"Oops, sorry," Lily said as she smashed into the back of Mike with all her body weight, pushing him tight against Megan, as both her and Mike's arms came up as a knee jerk response. Neither even looked back at Lily, they were centimetres away from each other's faces, their hands tight against each other's bodies. Megan made the first move, and touched her lips to Mikes lightly. Both losing their nerve, their kiss continued delicately, and ended soon afterwards; knowing they were surrounded by 8 and 9 year olds.

"Wow," Megan breathlessly spoke when they finally pulled apart. Mike blushed in response, beyond happy, yet still having absolutely no idea how to speak. Lily smiled proudly before she turned around to meet nana Ella who put her arm around Lily's shoulder and started to lead her towards the bar for a lemonade and some chips.

"I see what you did there, very good," Ella complimented the precocious child who winked at Ella while wearing a smile in response. They then walked to go and get her those snacks from the bar.

"Right, I've got the monkeys," Ella said as Olivia and Lily were getting secured in her car by Ezra. "You call have fun at the overflowing party house, we'll see you tomorrow," she said to Aria before kissing her on the cheek.

"Thanks mum, see you tomorrow," she replied happily as Ezra's arms came around her back in a hug. Ella got in the car and smiled at them while Ezra placed kisses in the back of Aria's hair while he hugged her from behind.

"BYE," the girls screamed and waved.

"Bye," Ezra and Aria said waving back too, smiling widely. As Ella drove away, Aria twisted in Ezra's arms and immediately gave him a fiery kiss, his response immediately as fiery while a deep groan escaped from his throat.

"You're sure you can stay? What about work?" Aria asked Spencer, Hanna, Emily and Alison as they went into the library to pour themselves a drink.

"Of course, we've worked it out so we can spend some time up here. We haven't seen you in so long," Spencer said sadly.

"And we don't even know those adorable girls. I haven't taken them shopping yet, and boy that husband of yours is sooooooooo," Hanna rambled at lightening speed before realising what she was saying. She looked at Aria whose eyes were open wide with a glare, knowing exactly where she was going.

"Yeah, thanks Han," Aria said before all the girls laughed and took a sip of their drink of choice. After a few hours of talk, and a clock pushing 1am; the girls decided it was time for bed. Spencer, Emily, Hanna and Alison all grabbed their travel bags and began heading out to the spare room adjoining the garage. Megan was in there, but since the crowd of people that had invaded their house; Aria thought it was better if Megan stayed in Lily's room. Mike was in Olivia's bedroom, on a spare mattress admittedly; he would never have fitted into a 3 year olds bed.

Aria finished getting ready in the bathroom before she went to her and Ezra's room. She opened the door and smiled at Ezra, who was sitting up happily, his head buried in a new book, adorable geeky framed glasses on his face. "Hey," he said in a sleepy voice, making Aria immediately weak.

"Hey," she said before she curled into bed and crawled atop of Ezra, taking off his reading glasses and placing them on the bedside table as she did so. Goodness only knew where the book had gone. Ezra gave a mischievous smile, before he twisted their bodies so they fell on an awkward angle across the bed, with Ezra on top of Aria. Their kisses shared delicate and tender, Aria's hand raked up and down his soon bare back. Occasionally opening their eyes to stare deep into each other's soul; they kissed for an unknown portion of time, before their world grew hazy and explosive in each other's arms.

Afterwards, Ezra pulled Aria into his arms tightly, their heads resting against the soft, white pillows while their breathing slowed, their hands tracing each other's bodies.

"You excited to start your masters next week?" Ezra asked a few minutes afterwards.

"I am," she said happily. "Though we'll all be very busy, we'll get through with the change of schedule. And Ella around to help will be wonderful," she said before turning and pressing her lips to his neck. His head reacted to hers and buried in against her, before she began biting his neck lovingly as his hand ran from the cheek of her bottom up the length of her back tenderly. They pulled apart when laughing came from the corridor; Megan and Mike's laughing.

Ezra and Aria's puzzled faces looked towards where the sound was coming from through their walls, trying to understand what was happening. The overwhelming laughter abruptly stopped and kissing sound could be heard. Ezra smiled down at Aria, who immediately returned the smile to him.

"Good on Mike, he did it on his own," Ezra said happily while his hand traced Aria's forearm.

"Or, she did it. Either way," Aria said happily before placing a brief kiss on Ezra's lips, before they snuggled in for the night.

"Oh God, stop this hell," Aria moaned 20 minutes later. Ezra laughed as Aria grabbed the spare pillow, smacked Ezra in the head, before placing her head in between it and the mattress. Ezra reached his hand to caress her still naked back, but Aria shot out from his grasp.

"Don't, just, don't touch me," she said disturbed. Ezra laughed, as that was his desired response. "We'll have to buy Lily a new bed," Aria grumbled from underneath her pillow-mattress sandwich she had created for her head. Mike and Megan hand been making all kinds of sounds for 20 minutes, the fever and volume of which had steadily increased to the point where Aria wondered why she had been born at all. Ezra watched the whole event affect his wife's face, laughing merrily as she was slowly tortured from the sounds. 10 minutes later, sounds of all varieties had ceased, and Aria was back in Ezra's arms.

"I'm glad they're happy. They both deserve happiness," she said, tracing her hand across Ezra's chest repeatedly.

"I think it's for the long haul too, don't you?" Ezra asked her happily. "That's the vibe I got from them both. Maybe they've finally found it, what we have," he said as he kissed her lips softly, before sleep took over their bodies.

**I'm going to tease a little Megan and Aria convo next chapter. Hmmm ;)**

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><p><strong>Thank you for your reviews! :)<strong>

**Notinyourlifetimehoney** Haha! ;D I love killing an egotistical man's ego ;) And Ryan deserved it haha!

**HarrylovesGinny09**Thank you for all your reviews, you lovely lovely person! :D And don't be, it's all good! :) xox

**GilmoreGirls945** THANK YOU! :) Hmm you may see him again, you may not *deliberately being vague and mysterious* ;)

**HaleyJamesScottNathanScott**Ohh I like that angle, or something similar! I'll think about including it ;)

**bite-me-im-irish**lol, thank you! :)

**amberanoka** Hahaa I understand completely! ;) You're very very kind, thank you! :) Kids are wonderful judges of character! I would love to see Ezra struggling with a little girl with a violin in the show one day. That would be so precious! :) OH yeah, his tough side is soooo delish ;) Thank you again for you lovely review! Xoxo

**PrettyLittleFan**Those ideas of yours were awesome, thank you for your suggestions! :D hahaa omg, I'm glad you didn't miss it! Hmm, we'll see about him ;) How's your cold going?


	10. Chapter 10

_**Winter Wonderland just hit 24000 hits. You legends makin' me smile! ;)**_

_**And your reviews in response to the last chapter; wow! :D You're all amazing, and that's an understatement. Enjoy the next chapter! ~St0ryTeller**_

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><p><em>"You excited to start your masters next week?" Ezra asked a few minutes afterwards.<em>

_"I am," she said happily. "Though we'll all be very busy, we'll get through with the change of schedule. And Ella around to help will be wonderful," she said before turning and pressing her lips to his neck. His head reacted to hers and buried in against her, before she began biting his neck lovingly as his hand ran from the cheek of her bottom up the length of her back tenderly. They pulled apart when laughing came from the corridor; Megan and Mike's laughing._

_Ezra and Aria's puzzled faces looked towards where the sound was coming from through their walls, trying to understand what was happening. The overwhelming laughter abruptly stopped and kissing sound could be heard. Ezra smiled down at Aria, who immediately returned the smile to him._

_"Good on Mike, he did it on his own," Ezra said happily while his hand traced Aria's forearm._

_"Or, she did it. Either way," Aria said happily before placing a brief kiss on Ezra's lips, before they snuggled in for the night._

_"Oh God, stop this hell," Aria moaned 20 minutes later. Ezra laughed as Aria grabbed the spare pillow, smacked Ezra in the head, before placing her head in between it and the mattress. Ezra reached his hand to caress her still naked back, but Aria shot out from his grasp._

_"Don't, just, don't touch me," she said disturbed. Ezra laughed, as that was his desired response. "We'll have to buy Lily a new bed," Aria grumbled from underneath her pillow-mattress sandwich she had created for her head. Mike and Megan hand been making all kinds of sounds for 20 minutes, the fever and volume of which had steadily increased to the point where Aria wondered why she had been born at all. Ezra watched the whole event affect his wife's face, laughing merrily as she was slowly tortured from the sounds. 10 minutes later, sounds of all varieties had ceased, and Aria was back in Ezra's arms._

_"I'm glad they're happy. They both deserve happiness," she said, tracing her hand across Ezra's chest repeatedly._

_"I think it's for the long haul too, don't you?" Ezra asked her happily. "That's the vibe I got from them both. Maybe they've finally found it, what we have," he said as he kissed her lips softly, before sleep took over their bodies._

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><p>Saying it had been a long night would have won awards for 'understatement of the year'. Aria trudged down stairs slowly, scraping her slippers against the floorboards; sounding like a monster in a horror movie. Hanna, Emily and Spencer were occupying the three seats of the island bar in the kitchen, and Alison was about to start pouring coffee into everyone's cups when Aria showed her face. She was exhausted, her eyes hanging out of her head, her face all round miserable. She gave a weak smile to the girls whose immediate response was to laugh at her.<p>

"Oh honey, rough night?" Alison said suggestively before she went to the other side of the island bar to stand with the other girls.

"Yes and not for the reasons you're suggesting," she said pained before going to get herself her own cup of coffee.

"So what's up then?" Emily asked, all the girls oblivious to the new couple in the house.

"Well, uh…" Aria began.

"Wait, where's Mike, Megan and Ezra?" Spencer asked suddenly.

"Ezra's in the shower," Aria began.

"Is he really? Well I have to…" Hanna began as Alison also shifted to make their way upstairs to the bathroom.

"DON'T you dare," Aria shouted and they meekly retreated, realising subtlety wasn't their best character trait, and this is the only time they'd wish it different.

"Mike and Megan are," Aria began to continue with her previous point. A loud thud of a headboard upstairs though shifted everyone's attention to looking through the roof towards where the sound came from.

The girls pulled faces of shock, before each of their expressions blossomed into smiles while turning their attention straight to Aria. "Oh, my God!" Hanna squealed.

"You didn't get any sleep last night 'cause your brother's getting busy?" Spencer asked teasingly before everyone laughed.

"This isn't meant to happen when you're in your twenties, but yes, yes, that is right, yes. And if you could refrain from saying 'your brother's getting busy' again, that's be wonderful," Aria said with a scowl. She sighed before taking a sip of coffee while Spencer lowered her head, giggling slightly.

"So wait," Alison began "so it's been happening all night? And still now? Oh wow, Aria," she said laughing heartedly as Aria scowled at her. "You have fun with this situation," Alison teased purposely and Aria glared back at her with everything she had before shaking herself out of it.

"Look, I was planning on taking you all out today, but would you mind if we changed that to tomorrow? I need to sleep today, and eat, and sleep," Aria mumbled before looking weakly at the girls.

"Of course, yeah, we can do that," Emily said with a smile, Hanna also looking at Aria nodding understandingly before taking a quick sip of her drink, before lowering the cup again with equal enthusiasm.

"Can we take your girls out?" Hanna asked eagerly. "You're the only one of us with kids, and they're so precious, can I take them out? Maybe a few or all of us?" Hanna offered to the other girls at the island bar and they all smiled in excited agreement before wishfully looking to Aria for approval.

Aria gave a soft smile to her four best friends, before nodding in agreement. "Yes, fine, okay. But only one treat to eat. Like McDonalds or ice cream or popcorn, don't give them too much," she said, attempting to quickly educate her friends on the point of children's nutrition.

"I promise, we'll look after them," Spencer said genuinely before going and kissing Aria on the cheek as goodbye. Aria smiled satisfied with what Spencer had said, before grabbing a note card and pen from the side of the island bar to write down something for the girls.

"This," she said still writing, "Is Ella's address. They'd all be awake by now," she said with a smile, giving Spencer the paper. "Thank you," Aria said and Spencer briefly grasped Aria's hand in reply with a soft smile.

The girls all left to go and collect Olivia and Lily from Ella's, then Aria let out a huge sigh and lent against the kitchen counter. She was happy for both of them, Mike and Megan, she just prayed both of their heads and hearts were in the same place.

"I heard the front door," Ezra said as he came down to the kitchen, hair still damp from his shower, and dressed in a dark blue dressing down. Aria gave an unashamed smile at the sight, staring at the portion of his chest that was uncovered and she sighed.

"Uhhh, yeah, the girls went to take out Olivia and Lily," she said deliriously, her eyes still focused on that piece of his skin.

Ezra smiled and walked towards her. He wrapped his arms around her and the side of her face fell against the v of bare skin central to the sides of the dressing gown.

"You didn't sleep well, did you love," he said gently, his hand tracing her back.

"No, I didn't," she replied slowly, gently. She closed her eyes and snuggled against his body. They remained there for a few minutes before Ezra spoke up.

"Come on," he said as he grabbed her hand, and led her up to their room. He crawled in the bed on his side and motioned for her to join him. Aria stared at his kind face for a few moments, seeing he didn't need to sleep at all, was purely offering to comfort her. She smiled at him before following his suggestion. She crawled in by his side and wrapped her arms around his torso on his side of the bed, immediately breathing in deeply and smelling his scent, closing her eyes and drifting back to sleep.

Around lunch, Aria began to wake; the sleep she'd had wasn't enough, but it was enough to barely get herself through the rest of the day. She quickly registered her surroundings while Ezra's hand ran adoringly across her cheek, "morning Aria," he said soothingly, before placing his hand on the side of her neck and giving her nose a quick kiss. "Mike and Megan I think just got up too, well, they…" Ezra began.

"Right yes, okay, thank you," she said quickly before he said anything more in that area. "I need to go and talk to them, I can't stand the idea of either of them getting hurt. And Megan only just breaking up with Ryan after so many years," she paused and sighed before continuing, "I just want to make sure they're on the same page," she said softly, and wearily. "Thank you," Aria said warmly as she placed her hand on Ezra's chest, her lips against his with enthusiasm before she got out of bed and went to get ready for the day.

Aria and Ezra came down the stairs, dressed and ready at 1pm for their day. They found Megan and Mike in the kitchen, Megan's medium length blonde hair trailing behind her as her and Mike scurried around the kitchen, clearly attempting to make pancakes.

"Morning," Ezra said with a smile, placing his hand on Aria's lower back.

"Hey you two, how's everything going?" Aria asked with a smile, observing Mike and Megan's interactions with each other.

"Hey sis, everything's great thanks. You want some pancakes?" he asked kindly.

"Sure," Aria replied as she sat a seat at the island bar, Ezra assuming the seat next to her.

"Me too please, Mike. Pile them up," he said enthusiastically as Aria raised an eye brow.

"We didn't wake you last night, did we?" Megan asked, immediately mortified. Clearly, the external world outside of that bedroom last night hadn't been on their minds at all. That was good, Aria though.

"Oh no, slept like a baby," she said kindly, as Ezra placed his hand on her knee to comfort. Megan turned back to Mike who flipped the series of pancakes that had just been cooked onto two plates, and she brought them forward to Ezra and Aria.

"Actually, Megan; can I talk to you for a sec, in the library? Aria asked suddenly, making Megan's eyes shoot open in panic.

"Oh, yeah, sure," she fumbled out as she and Aria walked towards the library. Aria locked the door behind them and turned around.

"Just so I know, you're replacing Lily's mattress, right?" Aria asked boldly, before Megan crumbled onto the couch.

"Oh, God," she cried, realising all events had been overheard by the house. "I'm so sorry," she began.

"I don't care about me! Are you over Ryan? Are you using Mike?" Aria asked in a shout standing over Megan, whose face turned hurt immediately. Aria looked in her eye and realised she's stuffed up her choice of words dramatically; she'd hurt the woman in front of her.

"I love you, you know that," Aria began as she sat down next to Megan. "I support this if you're both on the same page. I just wanted to make sure you weren't rebounding. I wish I'd said it better," she said sadly. "But I didn't get a lot of sleep last night," she said with a smile, winking a little at her friend. Megan gave a soft laugh through her few tears, choosing to move on as Aria had.

"I feel like I'm falling, Aria, in the best, most magical way. I feel alive, invincible, God he makes me feel," she said before pausing to find her words. "I feel like I've found a piece I've been missing," she concluded warmly.

"That piece is Mike," Aria stated as if to confirm, and Megan smiled and lowered her head while she smiled.

"It is," she said before looking into Aria's eyes again. Aria knew those eyes, Megan meant every word that she had said. Aria knew she was falling hard for Mike, and all she could do now was wrap her arms around Megan warmly, telling her she understood the feeling.

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><p><strong>GilmoreGirls945<strong> Wow, I want to hug you right now! You're so kind, thank you! Seriously, thank you! :) And your stories deserve the reviews! People check out her stories! Xox

**Notinyourlifetimehoney**Lol ;) They were indeed cockblocked. I could continue with this area, but I'm working with a T rating here! :P And Mike and Megan; oh yeah! ;)

**HaleyJamesScottNathanScott**Thanks for your ideas! :) I'll see where the story goes!

**PrettyLittleFan**Haha I'm glad you like Megan and Mike! I wasn't planning on going there, but it seems to work, doesn't it? ;) And oh yeah, Lily's a rockstar! And thank you! :)

**Caligirl28**Wow, so many compliments! Thank you! :) I've been trying to work out a name for Megan and Mike since I read your review; with no luck yet! Let us know if you think of one! :)

**OnceAWildcatAlwaysAWildcat** Thank you! :) I'm proud of the little cutie too!

**HarrylovesGinny09**Thank you! :)

**msbookworm93**Haha someone had to help Mike out ;) I'm glad it was Lily! And thank you so much! :D

**WWKMDbracelets**Haha ;) Thank you! :)

**amberanoka**Oh gosh, oh wow! Thank you from the bottom of my heart! I'm so glad you're the story so much! :D


	11. Chapter 11

_"I love you, you know that," Aria began as she sat down next to Megan. "I support this if you're both on the same page. I just wanted to make sure you weren't rebounding. I wish I'd said it better," she said sadly. "But I didn't get a lot of sleep last night," she said with a smile, winking a little at her friend. Megan gave a soft laugh through her few tears, choosing to move on as Aria had._

_"I feel like I'm falling, Aria, in the best, most magical way. I feel alive, invincible, God he makes me feel," she said before pausing to find her words. "I feel like I've found a piece I've been missing," she concluded warmly._

_"That piece is Mike," Aria stated as if to confirm, and Megan smiled and lowered her head while she smiled._

_"It is," she said before looking into Aria's eyes again. Aria knew those eyes, Megan meant every word that she had said. Aria knew she was falling hard for Mike, and all she could do now was wrap her arms around Megan warmly, telling her she understood the feeling._

"So, it's all going good?" Ezra asked Mike as they continued to occupy the kitchen while Aria and Megan were in the library. Ezra's face grew mischevious and Mike blushed like a 14 year old girl.

"She's… I…" Mike began before giving up while Ezra had a little chuckle.

"Oh, you've got it bad. Welcome to the club," Ezra said, gesturing his coffee cup towards Mike's, and they clinked their drinks before each taking a sip. Both men stood silent for a minute and the air of the room noticeably changed. A few seconds more passed before Ezra thought it appropriate to speak.

"I know this is new, but have you thought about… down the track? She lives in Iceland," Ezra reminded Mike in case he'd forgotten. Mike's face dropped instantly. It was clearly something he had known, yet had pushed to the back of his mind.

"I guess, we'll see how 'we' go before we think any further," Mike said with sadness staining his voice, Ezra giving a tight knowing smile as he nodded in reply. Just then, Aria and Megan chose to draw open the doors of the library adjoining the kitchen and they came and joined their boys. Megan came and stood next to Mike, their arms immediately went around each other's bodies casually. Aria reached her body upwards to kiss Ezra's ear 'I love you,' she whispered to him so only he could hear. He blushed and smiled, before placing a soft kiss on her lips in reply.

"WE'RE BACK," Hanna screamed as the front door flew open loudly and a huge wave of laughter and commotion entered the what was quiet household.

"Good, lord," Ezra breathed as he stared at his daughters as they returned from their shopping day with Aria's friend. "Did you buy everything in the shopping centre?" he asked concerned yet baffled at just how many bags were being carried through his front door; 90% of which were clearly for Lily and Olivia, not the adults. Children's clothing and toy store bags grew in a descent sized pile in the foyer of the house as Ezra watched the bags fall onto the floor with crinkly-thud sounds. "And girls, I…" Ezra began as he stared at Lily and Olivia. They were both sporting glittery fairy skirts, face paint on their faces, temporary hair colour in rainbow stripes in their hair as their smiles lit the whole house, possibly the street in response to their day. "They look like my little pony," Ezra said with a smile and soft chuckle as Alison ran her hand adoringly through Lily's hair, Olivia and Spencer winking happily between each other.

"Aria, honey. Would you mind…" Ezra announced in a voice loud enough so Aria would come and see what was going on.

"Hey Ez, what's," Aria began before the group at the door caught her attention. Aria looked at the smiles on Olivia and Lily and immediately started laughing. Her hands flew to her face as she stared at them amazed at the clearly wonderful day they'd had. "My did you two get spoiled," she asked shaking her head as her grin remained on her face.

"Oh yeah, they did. And it was completely worth the credit card debt I am now in," Hanna said with a wink before she set off to the kitchen with her handbag, Emily following immediately after.

"We did these too," Spencer told Aria and Ezra, removing two strips of photos from her pocket. She brought them to Aria and Ezra while at the same time, Olivia jumped herself around Alison's waist for a hug. Ezra and Aria looked at the photographs; Emily, Hanna, Spencer and Alison taking multiple photos with Olivia and Lily. They were all pulling faces or smiling warmly, all clearly having a wonderful time.

"The place we went also had like hats and feather bowers and stuff we could use for the photographs," she told them as their faces moved to the photos where the amount of costumes featured were not few, but many.

"I love this. Particularly this one, yeah?" Aria asked Ezra as he nodded silently with a smile. The photo had Lily and Olivia's tongues sticking out, their hands manipulating their faces in contorted ways, and the girls behind them doing the same while they all wore different coloured feather bowers.

"We had an amazing time with them. Thanks for letting us take them out," Spencer said as she walked towards Aria, them then hugging each other tightly; clearly having been missing each other all these years.

"You're very welcome," Aria said into her shoulder as their hug continued.

"Where Pigtunia?" Olivia cried out suddenly and forced herself down from Alison's waist in a panic.

"Where, what honey?" Aria asked confused as she watched her four year old being freaking out and searching through the bags.

"She wanted this toy pig at the store. And I was behind on a few birthday presents, so I got it for her. She loves her. And came up with the name herself," Alison said warmly. Olivia grabbed the front door handle and threw it open as violently as her strength could allow, before she went charging out to the car.

"She's very attached to it very quickly," Spencer said with a gleaming smile. "She's so cute," Spencer squealed. "Oh, tell mum and dad what we got you hon," Spencer told Lily whose face immediately lit up as she searched for the appropriate bag.

"It's an antique copy of The Secret Garden. Isn't it beautiful," Lily said warmly as she brought it to show her parents. The book was clearly about 80 years old, and the beautiful old smell of the book immediately filled the foyer.

"I'm going to go check on Liv, see how she's going," Alison told everyone before she walked out to the car.

"OLIVIA?" Alison screamed not 20 seconds later. "OLLIVIAA?" she screamed even louder again prompting everyone to run outside from the house, including Emily and Hanna, Mike and Megan who had all been in the kitchen.

"Where is she?" Ezra screamed.

"I don't know. I have no idea," Alison said back immediately. Alison's face grew sad as she looked at the open door at the back of the car. Pigtunia was laying on the floor; Olivia hadn't even grabbed it before she disappeared.

**Where's Olivia? Do you think someone from their past may know?**

**Alright lovelies, please don't go 'it's shorter than normal'; things I already know, okay? If I could make it the extra 800 words like normal, of course, I would do it. I can't actually put into words how sick I feel (it's just a cold, but I feel beyond shocking and like I should be laying down, not sitting at my study desk). I knew how long it had been since and update, so wanted to let you all know I am aware of that and I wanted to give you something. I can't physically do any more right now. Asap, I'll give a proper update. Take care all, don't get my cold! And I'm not proofreading and I'm literally going to bed, so be kind please Xox**

WWKMDbracelets lol, indeed! ;) And thank you very much! :)

AnnikaRacheal This is one of the kindest comments I've ever received! Thank you so so much! And please thank your sister in law too! You both have made me beyond happy, thank you! :D

Notinyourlifetimehoney lol ;) Ohh we'll have to see what happens with our new lovebirds ;)

GilmoreGirls945 Heck yeah, I'd love a virtual hug with you! :) You are so beyond kind and gorgeous, thank you so much! I am so grateful for your kind reviews! And I'm loving your story, so it's a pleasure! Thank you for your kind compliments, I absolutely adore you! :)

amberanoka Thank you so much! I'm so glad you enjoyed the chapter! Aww I love when something in the story reminds someone of something real life, that makes me smile! :)

Princessjasmine12 Thank you gorgeous! :)

HarrylovesGinny09 I only mentioned it in one sentence at the very start of Winder Wonderland that Ali never died in my story! I probably could have reminded people of that as it was a very long time ago I wrote that ! ;)

bite-me-im-irish hahaha I did too! :)

PrettyLittleFan Thanks! I'll be sure to include more of the girls and Aria coming up! And I love me the Ezria sweetness! ;)

BrookeRachelle Aww thank you so much! :D


	12. Chapter 12

_**I don't own Pretty Little Liars, the character mentioned in the books and show, nor do I have anything do do with Disney, so please don't sue me. Anything else I made up. Whoo :)**_

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><p><em><strong>I am refraining from using APPALLING language right now. You can sit there being pissed at me for all the updates notices in your emails, but I hope you'll recognise my personality from my writing, and believe me when I say that fanfiction had an absolute FREAKIN meltdown, and wouldn't let me post my chapter with an obvious error fixed. <strong>_

_**Hopefully, this update has worked and I have been able to delete the chapter with the error (I am SO grateful it was pointed out to me; it needed to be fixed! :)), and also the message apologising just before this. So in that case, this may be the only notice some of you get regarding what was going down.**_

_**Yes, I edited the story literally about 7 times when I learned of the error, when that didn't work like usual, I REUPLOADED the story about 8 times I think by the end. Being driven UP the wall, not to mention the updates in your inboxes. I have no idea why it wasn't working (and yes, I had done this many times before).**_

_**I AM WHOLEHEARTEDLY SORRY. It wasn't intentional, and I hope the chapter makes up for at least a bit of the pain.**_

**_Understand it was the site with problems, NOT me. Don't abuse me, I really don't feel like it right now after trying to fix this for the last 50 minutes, FOR YOU._**

**_St0ryTeller_**

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><p><em>"She wanted this toy pig at the store. And I was behind on a few birthday presents, so I got it for her. She loves her. And came up with the name herself," Alison said warmly. Olivia grabbed the front door handle and threw it open as violently as her strength could allow, before she went charging out to the car.<em>

_"She's very attached to it very quickly," Spencer said with a gleaming smile. "She's so cute," Spencer squealed. "Oh, tell mum and dad what we got you hon," Spencer told Lily whose face immediately lit up as she searched for the appropriate bag._

_"It's an antique copy of The Secret Garden. Isn't it beautiful," Lily said warmly as she brought it to show her parents. The book was clearly about 80 years old, and the beautiful old smell of the book immediately filled the foyer._

_"I'm going to go check on Liv, see how she's going," Alison told everyone before she walked out to the car._

_"OLIVIA?" Alison screamed not 20 seconds later. "OLLIVIAA?" she screamed even louder again prompting everyone to run outside from the house, including Emily and Hanna, Mike and Megan who had all been in the kitchen._

_"Where is she?" Ezra screamed._

_"I don't know. I have no idea," Alison said back immediately. Alison's face grew sad as she looked at the open door at the back of the car. Pigtunia was laying on the floor; Olivia hadn't even grabbed it before she disappeared._

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><p>It had been four hours. Four hours where everyone in the house had spread out searching for Olivia. The police had been called and were helping in the search. Every stone unturned, Olivia was still gone. Ezra had Lily wrapped tightly around his torso; he wasn't letting go of her for anything. Aria was inconsolable, staying by Ezra's side in a silent daze. Her state had him panicked, but if he listened to that; he'd never find his daughter. His dealing with the situation became furious searching mode, not stopping until she was located.<p>

"Ezra, EZRA," Ella screamed after them as she crossed the path of him, Aria and Lily at a crossroads of the streets near their house. "Ezra, you're scaring me. Look at Lily," she said pulling Lily's face off Ezra's shoulder. She had been the most affected by the situation, clearly possessing the emotions of seeing her parents in such a way; they had been too distracted to notice other that where her physical being was. Ezra looked at Lily's face and furiously kissed her cheeks and forehead as the young girl cried.

"I'm sorry baby. I love you," he cried as he held her tighter. Aria came and joined the two of them and Ezra's free arm enveloped her while he kissed her hair. Her crying grew louder.

"You three, go home. Tell the police more about who may have taken her, people you know," she said as she pushed them towards their house.

"They know about Byron, mum," Aria said with her back to her mother as they all walked towards the house.

"Ryan. We haven't told them about Ryan," Lily piped up. At mere mention of his name Ezra and Aria's bodies felt sickened and light headedness washed over them. Lily had hit it on the head. Ezra put Lily's feet on the floor and they all ran to their house, where they could immediately tell of Ryan.

"HOW DID I FORGET RYAN?" Aria screamed like it was the universe's fault. "HOW DID I DO THAT?" Aria screamed, now clearly furious with herself. "My god, my baby," she said almost being sick when she reached their house. Everyone inside, the police, a few neighbours who had come over to help, all jumped at the extreme change of volume in the house.

"Ryan, Ryan Matthews. That's who you need to find," Ezra told the first policeman he could find as Lily squeezed herself behind her father's body and cried into his lower back, while his hand held onto her back tightly. Three policemen quickly spoke in a huddle before they looked at Ezra, Aria and also Lily's expressions .They'd find out why this man scared them all so much later. Right now, they were going to jump on the lead. The policeman who Ezra spoke to pulled out his speaker and let out the alert for Ryan to be found.

Ezra gestured for Aria's hand, and he led her and Lily to the single leather chair next to the phone in the study. He sat down, pulled Aria onto his lap, and Lily sat on top and they silently sat there, snuggled against each other hoping for news soon.

"Why do I have to do this?" Olivia asked the man next to her, dressed in nothing but black.

"Because I said so, do it," he angrily replied as he continued to drive.

"Mum and dad say I'm not allowed to sit in the front seat. It's bad when I'm so small," Olivia fearlessly informed the stranger in black. She couldn't see anything about him. He was dressed in black from head to toe, including a black beanie over his face, black gloves on his hands. She knew his voice though, she knew she had heard it before.

"Olivia, write the note," he shouted at her. She maintained composure though, not crying, standing firm

"How did you know my name? And I can't write, I'm only three and three quarters," she informed him.

The man sighed out of frustration. He hadn't thought of that hole in the plan; that she'd most likely be too small to write. Truth be told, Olivia could write. She could spell very well for her age too. She was smart enough to not let this man know that.

"If…. If mummy and daddy know I can't write, then they'll know I didn't write this, but that you made me," she said glumly, playing with him as he shook his head and started to drive faster into the now night.

"Well, it'll have to do. There is no other option. Copy what I say," he instructed. She met his eye briefly, not seeing a way out, and put the tip of her crayon he had bought for the occasion to her.

"I- r-a-n- a-w-a-y," he spoke irritatingly slow, so much so that Olivia was rolling her eyes by the end. She deliberately mixed capital and lower case letters throughout the writing so it looked like 'I rAN AwAy'. She never wrote like that. She also didn't have any crayons like the man expected her to have. She knew 100% her parents would know this was fake.

"Here," he said thrusting an envelope to her. "Put it in," he said as he pulled the car to the side of the road near a post box. He jumped out the large car and went around to her to get the envelope. The car's size meant the man had no worries about Olivia being able to jump out; she'd never make it. He opened her door and snatched the already addressed envelope out of her hands. He slammed the door and began walking to the post box. Olivia scooted immediately to the driver's side door and pushed it open without him hearing. Olivia would never complain about rain ever again; as the sound of the drops from the sky covered he slight noise opening the door.

"HEY," the man screamed as he saw Olivia no longer sitting in the car. He ran to his side door and looked up and down the street. The frantic panting and breathing of a small girl could be heard along with loud footsteps behind trees which ran along the side of the road. He knew she must have been on the other side of them, immediately running over to see. As soon as he got past the trees, the small brunette girl could be seen about 100 metres up the concrete path, running as fast as she could.

"COME HERE, KID," he screamed before charging off after her. Olivia screamed and continued to run as fast as she could. He was gaining on her, now was only about 50 metres behind her now as she shouted HELP to whoever could here.

"DON'T PUSH ME, KID. YOUR MOTHER'S ALREADY DOING THAT, PRETENDING SHE DOESN'T LOVE ME," he shouted, clearly forgetting his place.

"Mum loves dad," Olivia shouted back before finding a driveway to a property. The silver gate blocking the driveway had a latch secured with a deadbolt. Olivia couldn't get in the usual way. Her eyes flickered excitedly as she realised she could fit under the bottom. Being 3 had its benefits, she thought as she lowered to the ground and started to crawl under. The man found her then, and charged towards the gate, only able to grab her ankle. The rest of her was safely on the other side of the fence, and there was no way the man could get through.

"Help," Olivia shouted again towards the house. The house had lights on, so Olivia assumed someone was home. "GET OFF ME," she shouted at the man again, shaking her ankle as much as she could. She was no fool, she knew she wasn't going to get free this way. She reached through the gat towards the man's face quickly, and stuck her finger in his eye.

The man screamed, and said a few words Olivia knew were bad while he clasped his face with his hands. Olivia stood up on the other side of the gate and ran towards the property.

"Oh, my, God. What-?" A delicate woman of about 40 said as she came out of the house finally. She saw a girl on tiny legs run straight towards her, past her and then into the house. The woman walked straight towards the swearing man still sitting on the other side of her gate. She extracted her phone and took a photo of him. She then reached through the fence towards his head, and pulled the beanie over his head. He was too exhausted and in pain to argue, as he admitted defeat. The woman immediately took a photo of the man before reaching for a bucket behind the fence, filled with compost, and dumped it on the man's head. The woman turned back towards her house with a smug expression on her face. She shut her door, locked it, and proceeded to look for the small girl.

"Young girl, where are you? It's safe, he's gone now. We should call your mummy and daddy," she said before she turned the corner to her kitchen. She let out a laugh as she found the small girl, helping herself to a box of coco puffs. After a brief snack of cereal, Olivia did as the woman asked and went to the phone to call her parents.

"Daddy, I'm okay. I'm with a nice lady now. Daddy?" she asked. "Dad I'm okay, really. You don't have to cry," she said as Ezra blubbered into the phone. He held it tight to his ear while he kissed Aria's lips briefly, then Lily's cheek before getting back to Olivia.

"Honey, can I speak to the nice lady, please?" he asked.

"Okay," she said as she gave the phone to the lady. "He wants to talk to you," she informed her before running back to the kitchen. The woman let out a soft laugh before speaking into the phone.

"Hello," she said calmly.

"Hello. Why is there laughing, is everything really okay?" Ezra said in a panic.

"Oh yes, I promise, she's fine. She's a little damp from the weather, muddy too. I wanted to check if it was okay with you if I gave her a change of clothes. They'll just be mine, very big for her I'm afraid; but I don't want her to get sick," the woman spoke in a hurry.

"Yes, thank you, that's fine. Could you dry her hair too?" he asked, finally relaxing a little now.

The woman gave a small laugh before responding. "Of course, I'll do that. And I was laughing before because your daughter has already taken over my kitchen. She knows she's safe now," the woman informed him. "Do you want me to call the police? I assumed you'd have some there already," she said calmly.

"No, that's okay. Yes, we have some here. Where are you?" Ezra asked before the woman briefly snickered.

"Smithson," she replied.

"WHAT? That's four hours from us!" Ezra shouted.

"Yeah, whoever had her got far. Don't worry about that either, I got his photo. I'll call the police to find him right now. In fact, I should go and do that," she said. She gave Ezra her address before concluding the phone call. The police were called immediately and the photo emailed to their base. He was immediately recognised as Ryan Matthews, everyone later found out. Though his whereabouts was unknown at the present time.

"Now, honey. It's 11pm, and you're so young. BUT, I figured you don't feel like sleeping. SOOOOO what do you say to hot chocolate and some pizza? Maybe Disney channel?" the woman asked Olivia, who immediately jumped out from the kitchen pantry excitedly, nodding furiously.

"Yes, yes please," she said with a giant smile. Not 20 minutes later, Olivia had had her hair dried, she was wearing the lady's big warm jumper, and her leggings which had been dried in the drier. She and the nice lady who finally gave her name as Daisy were now laughing in front of re-runs of Hannah Montana, eating pizza and sipping greedily on their hot chocolate and marshmallows.

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><p><strong>Thank you for your kind words when I was ill. I hope you enjoyed the chapter! :D<strong>

**Notinyourlifetimehoney** ;) But I don't know if he's far away..

**princessjasmine12** :) She's all good now, happy with junk food!

**GilmoreGirls945**Aww, thanks for the virtual hug! And you got it! :D Well done!

**Caligirl28** Thank you for being so kind! And I'm glad I gave you a shock with the storyline! And aww I'm glad our cutiepie is safe and well now! Again eating chocolate! ;)

**Prettylittlefan**Thank you so much for your kind words! :) And you guessed it too, well done! :D Hehe thank you, I thought she'd be sweet with Pigtunia! ;) And thank you so much, I feel much better now! :)

**HarrylovesGinny09**Your question has now been answered :)

**bite-me-im-irish** Haha ;) And thank you!

**WWKMDbracelets** :D I hope you liked where it went!

**HaleyJamesScottNathanScott** ;D

**msbookworm93** love me a cliffhanger ;)


	13. Chapter 13

_"Daddy, I'm okay. I'm with a nice lady now. Daddy?" she asked. "Dad I'm okay, really. You don't have to cry," she said as Ezra blubbered into the phone. He held it tight to his ear while he kissed Aria's lips briefly, then Lily's cheek before getting back to Olivia._

_"Honey, can I speak to the nice lady, please?" he asked._

_"Okay," she said as she gave the phone to the lady. "He wants to talk to you," she informed her before running back to the kitchen. The woman let out a soft laugh before speaking into the phone._

_"Hello," she said calmly._

_"Hello. Why is there laughing, is everything really okay?" Ezra said in a panic._

_"Oh yes, I promise, she's fine. She's a little damp from the weather, muddy too. I wanted to check if it was okay with you if I gave her a change of clothes. They'll just be mine, very big for her I'm afraid; but I don't want her to get sick," the woman spoke in a hurry._

_"Yes, thank you, that's fine. Could you dry her hair too?" he asked, finally relaxing a little now._

_The woman gave a small laugh before responding. "Of course, I'll do that. And I was laughing before because your daughter has already taken over my kitchen. She knows she's safe now," the woman informed him. "Do you want me to call the police? I assumed you'd have some there already," she said calmly._

_"No, that's okay. Yes, we have some here. Where are you?" Ezra asked before the woman briefly snickered._

_"Smithson," she replied._

_"WHAT? That's four hours from us!" Ezra shouted._

_"Yeah, whoever had her got far. Don't worry about that either, I got his photo. I'll call the police to find him right now. In fact, I should go and do that," she said. She gave Ezra her address before concluding the phone call. The police were called immediately and the photo emailed to their base. He was immediately recognised as Ryan Matthews, everyone later found out. Though his whereabouts was unknown at the present time._

_"Now, honey. It's 11pm, and you're so young. BUT, I figured you don't feel like sleeping. SOOOOO what do you say to hot chocolate and some pizza? Maybe Disney channel?" the woman asked Olivia, who immediately jumped out from the kitchen pantry excitedly, nodding furiously._

_"Yes, yes please," she said with a giant smile. Not 20 minutes later, Olivia had had her hair dried, she was wearing the lady's big warm jumper, and her leggings which had been dried in the drier. She and the nice lady who finally gave her name as Daisy were now laughing in front of re-runs of Hannah Montana, eating pizza and sipping greedily on their hot chocolate and marshmallows._

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><p>The police left the house immediately in pursuit of Ryan. Ezra assured them they were fine to fetch Olivia, but one man insisted on meeting them at the address of Daisy.<p>

"I feel sick. It's all my fault," Megan collapsed as Ezra, Aria and Lily hurried out the door after announcing they were going to collect Olivia.

"Here, here," Spencer said as she gestured three brown paper bags and three bottles of water towards them. "Sandwiches, for the road," she said with a tight smile.

Aria smiled as she collected the items in her arms, and Ezra put his hand in Lily's. Aria looked at Megan who was sobbing on the floor. Mike fell to rub her back soothingly.

"Megan, I swear, this isn't your fault, in any way. We'll see you when we get back," she said genuinely, before they opened their front door and left. Hanna, Alison, Emily, Spencer, Megan and Mike had been left in the house. They all gathered by the door from various parts of the house and met in silence.

"I want to go. Now, I want to go," Megan cried as she ran up the stairs towards Lily's room to collect her things. Mike groaned pained before running after her, trying to talk her out of her decision.

Spencer sighed out a stressed breath. "I'm going to do their dishes," she announced before leaving.

"I had a feeling we'd never see Olivia again," Hanna announced with conviction, still trying to register all that had happened. Emily wrapped her arms around Hanna's torso in a tight embrace before Alison reached for her hand. Emily took her hand and came in close to her while Alison moved hair out of her face before giving her a tender kiss.

"You guys are too cute. And I'm the third wheel. Awkward and I'm leaving," Hanna said before she fleeted to join Spencer in the kitchen, leaving Emily and Alison to have a moment.

"I think I'm going to stay around for a while, rent a place nearby," Spencer told Hanna when she noticed her walk into the kitchen. Spencer was over the sink beginning to do the dishes by hand. Hanna came to Spencer's left to help her.

"Would you like a roommate?" Hanna asked hopingly.

Spencer turned with a smile. "Yeah of course! Why else do you think I brought it up with you just now?" she said in a laugh. Hanna laughed too and they had a 'moment' hug, which included Hanna screaming from Spencer's wet hands on the back of her shirt.

"That wasn't planned," Spencer said with an 'O' shaped mouth, which quickly formed into a smile.

"Yeah, right," Hanna said before diving into the soapy water, throwing as much as she could at Spencer, their squealing filling the night.

"Please, PLEASE. STOP," Mike shouted, grabbing the suitcase from Megan's hand as she crumbled in tears. "This isn't your fault," he said, running his hand over his cheek. "Please, I can't lose you yet," he pleaded. Her broken face and tear-filled eyes looked up at him. More tears formed and flowed down her cheek as she looked back down again.

"I feel responsible, Mike. Please understand that. I'm going back to Iceland. But… you're more than welcome to come with me," she said hopingly. He smiled and nodded furiously.

"Yeah," he choked before trying again. "Yeah, yep, I'll go with you," he said before he fell to her feet, and plastered his lips on hers, tasting her tears on her lips while her hands flew to the side of his neck while they continued.

"You're here," Daisy exclaimed. "At least, I hope it's you; it's been a weird night. Ezra, Aria, Lily?" Daisy asked into the dark night at the three figures on her porch. Ezra chuckled. "yeah, it's us. Nice to meet you," he said kindly, before they started to shuffle into Daisy's house.

"OH hon, go see your daughter. We can do the 'kind' thing later," she said while smiling at Aria, and gesturing towards her lounge room. Olivia was passed out on the couch. _"Sweet Nibblets"_ was mumbled from Hannah Montana on the television, making Lily run to look at it while Aria laughed. Ezra fell to his knees at the couch where Olivia lay. The child had pizza sauce on her face, yet still looked like a tiny, brunette angel with her mother's chubby cheeks. Ezra cried and ran his hand over the side of Lily's face. Lily began to stir and Aria came and lay against her daughter on the couch; not squishing her, just being with her.

"Hmm?" Olivia mumbled before registering what and who was happening around her. "Mum, dad" she screamed and she was immediately squished by her parents while they all wept and laughed. Daisy stood in the doorway and smiled at the sight, before looking at Lily. Lily stood watching the sight. She wasn't jealous, she was crying. She had clearly missed her sister more than was previously apparent on her facial expression. Daisy walked towards Lily and put her hand on her back.

"Go on," she said before Lily looked at her with watering eyes. Ezra and Aria turned to look at Lily while retreating back from Olivia.

"Come on, honey," Aria said with her hand outstretched towards Lily.

"Lily," Olivia screamed loudly and she threw herself off the couch and into her sister's arms. Olivia's head was at Lily's ribcage and they both cried while their arms tightened around each other. "I didn't think I'd see you again," Lily cried before placing her lips in Olivia's hair while her hands ran through it. "I'm so glad you're alright," she said while the girls stayed interlocked.

Exhausted, Aria put her body against Ezra's as they both moved and sat on the couch. They were both beat, and there was no way either could stand the 4 hour drive back home tonight.

"I've made up the guest room," Daisy announced while she walked to Ezra and Aria. "This couch is a fold-out, so the girls can sleep here. And the spare room for you both is just across there," she said, pointing just off the lounge room. "Now, I'm going to make sure my front door is locked, and I'm going to bed. I don't do well staying up so late," she said with a smile, before leaving the others in her house.

"What an amazing woman, letting us, complete strangers stay," Aria said, before curling tighter against Ezra's chest. He kissed her hair and ran his hand up her back. "God, I am so glad I don't have to drive again. I am too fatigued, truth be told, we probably would have been sleeping by the side of the road if Daisy hadn't offered," he said spent. "Girls, bed. Aria, bed," he said forcefully. "Not here, Ezra," Aria said jokingly suggestively as he rolled his eyes. "Yeah right. Take up residence with a lovely lady, eat her food, leave her with dirty laundry," he said teasingly. "Actually, girls; you go to the spare room, mum and I can set up the couch. The girls ran off, clearly content now in each other's company.

"I can't be bothered, Ezra. Forget the bed," she said as she lay down across the couch. "Nap with me?" she said with her arm outstretched to him.

"Of course, my angel," he said as he lay on the edge of the couch. Aria curled in tight between the back of the couch and his chest. Their family was okay. Everything in the world was fine.

"You're not going, anywhere," Aria said with force at Megan and Mike who were packing a taxi when they got back home the next day around lunch.

"We waited to say goodbye, and…" Mike began to Aria before he saw Lily. Her face read only betrayal as her favourite uncle announced his departing without even telling her.

"Lil," he began and she cried as he approached. "I'll be back. I love you so much. Please, don't cry," he pleaded as he grabbed his cheeks in her hands. "It's just part of my journey, but I'll be back; mini-me," he said warmly and she smiled happily.

"One more prank?" she asked and Mike nodded before they ran in the house. Megan, Aria, Ezra with Olivia in his arms all stood there puzzled. Ezra put Olivia down and watched her run into the house.

Lily and Mike had been resident pranksters since she was born. This was going to be for the books. They rounded up Hanna, Alison, Spencer and Emily and all the contents from the Fitz's kitchen and they huddled at the front door.

"1, 2, 3," Mike and Lily slowly said staring and smiling at each other's faces, before they all ran out the door. With Ezra in their sights, sauces, ice cream, slices of beetroot and cheese; everything was thrown at Ezra and he stood and took it all while they laughed and screamed as he smiled tightly from the assault. Aria and Megan stood laughing at the sight. Spencer, Emily, Hanna and Alison were clearly just in it for the one off opportunity to ruin Ezra's clothes; and they made a meal out of it. Aria went and wrapped her arms around Megan while they watched the others fight. Aria kissed Megan's cheek before they nuzzled in together. They knew she was still going, with Mike; but that they'd both be back soon. Ezra found the opportunity for revenge (finally) and grabbed the hose from the front lawn and turned it on all of them. The power roll was reversed and he laughed gleefully while they all ran into the house. "I'm borrowing your clothes, Ezra," Mike announced as he fled with the others in the house.

Ezra stood victorious and proud, before his attention turned to Aria. He cockily began waltzing over towards her, covered in food and muck. "No, no," she laughed before she ran towards the house. Ezra immediately caught her in his arms and began kissing her neck from behind while he held her off the floor while she screamed. Megan looked at them smiling before she closed the boot of her car.

A few moments later, Mike joined them again. With Lily's hand in his, he walked towards Aria and Ezra. "I love you both, we'll see you soon," he said before kissing Aria's cheek and hugging her warmly, Ezra getting a firm handshake before they hugged also. Mike turned back to Lily. They interlocked pinky fingers and kissed the back of each other's hands.

"I love you, see you soon," Lily said staring deep into his eyes.

"Love you too. Thanks for being a legend," he said before he wrapped his arms around her tightly. "Bye," he said as he stood from Lily and went and met Megan. They gave a final wave and went in the taxi, immediately driving off after they did.

Ezra wrapped his arm around Aria and kissed her ear.

"What an interesting day. Got our girl back, made a friend in Daisy who we're going to keep in touch with, ruined your clothing, said goodbye to Megan and Mike. Wow," Aria breathed out as she, Ezra and Lily all went into the house.

They entered the house to see Alison and Emily snuggled on the couch. Aria's jaw dropped in a smile. "Well it's about time," she said at the two of them before she and Ezra walked towards the kitchen. Lily blushed and giggled at Emily and Alison before running after her parents.

**Take care all. I hope you liked!**

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><p><strong><strong>**Chapter 12 review responses :)**

**jills**thanks for pointing that out! ;)

**GilmoreGirls945 **haha! 15 WOW! I'm glad it made you feel special! Sorry again for all that! :) I think quite a few people had some problems with fanfic recently, from what I've been seeing in the last few days.. I'm glad it wasn't just me! And Olivia is indeed very smart! Thanks for reviewing! :D

**princessjasmine12** :D Thank you very much!

**Notinyourlifetimehoney** haha thank you! Lol I don't remember! ;)

**Caligirl28**hahha two reviews, thank you! :D I'm glad you liked Ezra's heart, and Olivia's intelligence! :) Thanks, I'll try to not stress if it happens again!

**HarrylovesGinny09**thank you! :) Oh 14, I'm sorry about all of that! I'm glad I see now it definitely wasn't just me that was having problems with fanfic over the last few days! :)

**Prettylittlefan**Oh no, you're sick now? Wow we are alternating! Hahaha! Lol definitely our interactions, not your friend being sick hahha! Lol I'm glad all the updates made you laugh! Sorry about that again! And thank you very much! :D


	14. Chapter 14

I have no idea why the last chapter still isn't showing up for some of you. Absolutely nothing to do with me, and I appreciate that you're still around, even after all the ridiculous site mumbo jumbo. I hope it's all smooth sailing from here; I've never had anything like all that happen before here. Hopefully, it was just a once off, for 'flavour' ;)

And I know it's been while, I apologise. **ENJOY! x**

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><p><em>"1, 2, 3," Mike and Lily slowly said staring and smiling at each other's faces, before they all ran out the door. With Ezra in their sights, sauces, ice cream, slices of beetroot and cheese; everything was thrown at Ezra and he stood and took it all while they laughed and screamed as he smiled tightly from the assault. Aria and Megan stood laughing at the sight. Spencer, Emily, Hanna and Alison were clearly just in it for the one off opportunity to ruin Ezra's clothes; and they made a meal out of it. Aria went and wrapped her arms around Megan while they watched the others fight. Aria kissed Megan's cheek before they nuzzled in together. They knew she was still going, with Mike; but that they'd both be back soon. Ezra found the opportunity for revenge (finally) and grabbed the hose from the front lawn and turned it on all of them. The power roll was reversed and he laughed gleefully while they all ran into the house. "I'm borrowing your clothes, Ezra," Mike announced as he fled with the others in the house.<em>

_Ezra stood victorious and proud, before his attention turned to Aria. He cockily began waltzing over towards her, covered in food and muck. "No, no," she laughed before she ran towards the house. Ezra immediately caught her in his arms and began kissing her neck from behind while he held her off the floor while she screamed. Megan looked at them smiling before she closed the boot of her car._

_A few moments later, Mike joined them again. With Lily's hand in his, he walked towards Aria and Ezra. "I love you both, we'll see you soon," he said before kissing Aria's cheek and hugging her warmly, Ezra getting a firm handshake before they hugged also. Mike turned back to Lily. They interlocked pinky fingers and kissed the back of each other's hands._

_"I love you, see you soon," Lily said staring deep into his eyes._

_"Love you too. Thanks for being a legend," he said before he wrapped his arms around her tightly. "Bye," he said as he stood from Lily and went and met Megan. They gave a final wave and went in the taxi, immediately driving off after they did._

_Ezra wrapped his arm around Aria and kissed her ear._

_"What an interesting day. Got our girl back, made a friend in Daisy who we're going to keep in touch with, ruined your clothing, said goodbye to Megan and Mike. Wow," Aria breathed out as she, Ezra and Lily all went into the house._

_They entered the house to see Alison and Emily snuggled on the couch. Aria's jaw dropped in a smile. "Well it's about time," she said at the two of them before she and Ezra walked towards the kitchen. Lily blushed and giggled at Emily and Alison before running after her parents._

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><p>Lily stood in front of Aria's full-length bedroom mirror, staring at her appearance intently with a tilted head. She was wearing a red pair of Aria's heels, her feet a few inches smaller than the shoes. She had dressed herself in a black lace dress of Aria's, which fell well below her knees. She'd also found Aria's make up in the bathroom, focussing mainly on red blush and lipstick on her face. Lily smiled as she looked at herself, all dressed up and 'beautiful', she thought.<p>

"Lil, what are you-" Aria asked as she entered her and Ezra's bedroom to find Lily standing in front of the mirror. Her medium-length brunette hair had been let free, and it flew a little as she turned to look at her mum.

"I'm getting ready, for my date tonight," Lily announced like a teenager, before turning back to fix her dress.

"You're, you're what?" Aria spluttered, in absolute disbelief. "Lily, you're nine. What do you mean 'you have a date'?" Aria asked now growing uneasy, before sitting on the bed to hear Lily's response.

"This boy at school, Tom, he asked me out. Nana Ella is taking me to the restaurant, and I think Olivia is going to go with her, to make sure 'I'm safe'," Lily informed her mother, who sat with a dropped jaw listening to her daughter.

"Why wouldn't nana Ella come and talk to me about this?" Aria asked Lily, in slight disbelief.

"Well, I _may_ have told her that you were cool with it. Tom's nine too," Lily answered as Aria scoffed.

"Right, I see. Well, I need to think about this Lil. Leave it with me. And, thank you for being so honest," Aria said sarcastically as Lily glared back at her annoyingly. _She's already turning into a teenager, years early,_ Aria thought sadly. "EZRA," Aria shouted through the house. A weak "here" was sent back through the house by Ezra, Aria assuming it came from the library.

"Hey, everything okay?" Ezra asked when Aria entered the library. He came and wrapped his arms around her waist and he kissed the side of her head while her hands rested on his forearms.

"Lily has her first date tonight," Aria responded with a neutral tone.

Ezra lost his words and stared at Aria confused. "She has her first, what? She's, she's nine," he rambled in panic.

"He's nine too, apparently. And apparently, Ella is going with her on this date. I just found out about it," Aria told him as her hands went to his waist too. "So is Olivia apparently," she added.

"Olivia is doing what?" Hanna replied as she entered the library, with Spencer, Emily and Alison not too far behind.

"Going as chaperone on a date with nana Ella, for Lily and Tom," Aria responded as Alison smiled widely. "Nine and she's already got a date. Good for her," Alison replied while winking at Aria.

"Ohh I don't know, that's so young," Spencer weighed in.

"Oh, it's fine, don't worry. You said Ella will be there? It will be so innocent, and I bet she'll have a great time," Hanna added.

"Okay, thank you all," Ezra said with a smile while drawing Aria tighter in his arms, "But, we better have the final say," he said kindly while the girls smiled at a protective daddy.

"Well, we're moving into our own place tonight," Spencer told everyone regarding her and Hanna. "We're moving to that rental two blocks over from here," she said.

"We've basically fallen in love with being around you guys, and this town is so picturesque. I'm going to enrol in the uni," Hanna said smiling brightly.

"Yeah, and you're seeing this place when we get settled. It's amazing," she said to everyone while she walked to Hanna and they squealed in their hug.

"And, we have our first date too. Well, official one, in public," Emily said as Alison gave her a tight hug also in response while the others smiled.

"I say we let Lily go," Ezra said to Aria while she smiled in agreement.

"I agree. And she's all dressed up, she's so excited. Though, I need to change her shoes, and tone down her blush," Aria said with a giggle. "After I get a picture for her 21st," she said mischievously before Ezra kissed her neck quickly. "We're going to have the place to ourselves," Ezra whispered in Aria's ear before kissing her there. Aria blushed and placed her hand on his chest, her fingers toying with the v of his shirt and top button.

"Oh yeah?" she said flirtatiously before kissing him.

Catching on, "Hello, still here," Spencer announced as Aria reluctantly removed her lips from Ezra's without delay.

"Oh, let's give them their time," Alison announced, grabbing Emily's hand in hers and they all left the library.

"So, miss Aria. What were we talking about?" Ezra began as soon as they'd been left alone.

"Oh I think it was something about," she said before kissing his lips briefly. "And this," she said kissing him fiercely again, her hands tightening in his hair. "And this," she said whilst jumping her legs around his waist, her tongue and his lovingly dancing before he turned and pushed her hard against the bookshelves.

20 minutes later, Ezra and Aria emerged from the library looking dishevelled and unashamedly happy with themselves. They walked into the kitchen and smiled awkwardly at the girls.

"Nice," Hanna replied, completely excited by what she knows had just taken place. Aria smiled at Hanna agreeing while Ezra, blushing, went and made a cup of tea for him and Aria before passing hers to her.

A small throat cleared behind Aria, and her, Ezra and Hanna turned around. Lily stood there with Emily, Alison and Spencer having helped. Lily's hair had been curled, shoes of her own, silver with diamantes had been placed on her feet, and she wore a little red dress. She looked amazing and her smile lit the room.

"So, what do you think?" She asked, giving a little twirl while the girls gushed.

"Honey, you look beautiful. Doesn't she, daddy?" Aria asked turning to look at Ezra. He stood there looking at his 9 year old who looked like she was 14, he thought she looked beautiful, but felt like he had lost 5 years of her life instantly. His mouth dropped as he tried to speak without success. Aria noticed his struggle and went and kissed him to comfort him.

"Yes, you look beautiful, darling," he said while Aria placed her hand in the cheek of his pants warmly.

"And we got a picture of her before, as you requested," Emily said with a wink. "And we're going to be late," she said to Alison and they twirled out of the kitchen.

"Yep, we should go too," Hanna said to Spencer and Lily. "And where's Olivia? We thought we'd drop them at Ella's, leave you two to, uh-" she said, looking at Lily and deciding to rephrase what she was going to say. "Leave you to do your homework, damn kids, you're so lazy," she said as she grabbed Lily's hand and Spencer, having found Olivia, all left the house.

"What do you want to do?" Ezra asked, his mouth basically already on Aria's.

"I don't know, what do you want to do?" she replied, pulling her body tight against his.

Not 10 minutes later, they were both horizontal, asleep on the couch. Aria's neck was snuggled tightly against Ezra's, his arms tight around her body while they slept, nuzzled into their soul mate, happier than ever. Their breathing deep and low, the night was theirs.

"Go on," Ella urged as she gave Lily a slight tap on the back towards a table where young Tom was sitting. Tom noticed Lily and smiled brightly at her. She lowered her head nervously, before finally reaching the table. Tom jumped out of his chair to pull hers out for her. Lily smiled and took the chair.

"Oh, a gentleman," Ella commentated to Olivia from their table. Olivia nodded in agreement and went back to watching Lily and Tom's date with nana Ella.

They ate spaghetti for dinner and apple pie for desert, the whole time Lily and Tom giggled and laughed. Ella and Olivia were finishing their chocolate cake when Lily came back over to them, blushing and speechless.

"He kissed me," Lily announced as Ella 'awww'd' and Olivia jumped up and hugged Lily. "He's gone to his mum, over there. I'm ready when you two are," Lily said, pointing towards Tom and his mum before sitting down with Olivia and Ella, stealing a bite of Olivia's chocolate cake.

"Hey," Olivia squealed while Ella waved at Tom's mum as goodbye for the evening. Lily smiled proudly as she sucked on Olivia's spoon while Olivia sat there pouting at her sister.

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><p><strong>Responses for the last chapter<strong>

**GilmoreGirls945** You're the nicest! Thank you! Oh don't worry, they'll see Mike again! :)

**Prettylittlefan**Thank you so much! Oh no, Emily and Alison just happened in the last chapter! Thought I'd throw that in there; show-Emily deserved that happiness with her love! :)

**Caligirl28**You're so kind! Thank you so much! :D I love Olivia and Lily's relationship too! :)

**princessjasmine12**thank you so much! :D I initially thought maybe _maybe_ Daisy could have been bad; but there's already so much bad in the world, I thought it'd be nice to have a rare, kind stranger in my story! They're so few and far in-between nowadays.

**newyorkgirlezriaobsessed**I have no idea why… it was the site, so hopefully it's working for you now! :)

**lucianfan**Same as above! :)

**HarrylovesGinny09**thank you so much! :)

**amberanoka**Wow you're so kind! I'm glad you enjoyed the last few chapters so much, thank you! :D Of course, Mike and Megan will be back at some point! :D

**Notinyourlifetimehoney**they will miss him! But don't worry, Mike will be back! :) He was captured and arrested! Yes, I think Daisy will reappear at some point! I think Mar did say that! I love the idea of Emily having her fairy-tale-happiness with Alison :D

**Cheers all, review please and say heeeyy! :D**


	15. Chapter 15

_**March 20? MARCH 20 is the last time I updated this story? I am SO SORRY. I won't bore you with details, but I don't lie; I haven't had any free time at all since that date; definitely not enough to write as much as I would have liked to have anyway. But I've got a little (literally only a little) more time to get back to all this now, so expect more updates soon! Take care :D**_

_**Oh, and there's lots of 'mum' in this chapter, just throwing it out there for someone who knows who she is! Just puttin' a little Aussie spin in these American character's lives ;) lolz**_

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><p><em>"What do you want to do?" Ezra asked, his mouth basically already on Aria's.<em>

_"I don't know, what do you want to do?" she replied, pulling her body tight against his._

_Not 10 minutes later, they were both horizontal, asleep on the couch. Aria's neck was snuggled tightly against Ezra's, his arms tight around her body while they slept, nuzzled into their soul mate, happier than ever. Their breathing deep and low, the night was theirs._

_"Go on," Ella urged as she gave Lily a slight tap on the back towards a table where young Tom was sitting. Tom noticed Lily and smiled brightly at her. She lowered her head nervously, before finally reaching the table. Tom jumped out of his chair to pull hers out for her. Lily smiled and took the chair._

_"Oh, a gentleman," Ella commentated to Olivia from their table. Olivia nodded in agreement and went back to watching Lily and Tom's date with nana Ella._

_They ate spaghetti for dinner and apple pie for desert, the whole time Lily and Tom giggled and laughed. Ella and Olivia were finishing their chocolate cake when Lily came back over to them, blushing and speechless._

_"He kissed me," Lily announced as Ella 'awww'd' and Olivia jumped up and hugged Lily. "He's gone to his mum, over there. I'm ready when you two are," Lily said, pointing towards Tom and his mum before sitting down with Olivia and Ella, stealing a bite of Olivia's chocolate cake._

_"Hey," Olivia squealed while Ella waved at Tom's mum as goodbye for the evening. Lily smiled proudly as she sucked on Olivia's spoon while Olivia sat there pouting at her sister._

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><p>"Olivia Grace Fitz, stop, STOP. STOP RIGHT NOW," Aria shouted at her small daughter who was proceeding to throw marshmallows at her mother while standing on a stool so she had the height advantage.<p>

"See now, I- I have no idea how to stop this," she said admitting defeat as she casually walked towards Olivia, keeping her face low and her shoulders shrugging while her hands gestured of surrender. Olivia giggled successfully while marshmallows bounced off her mother's hair while. Then without warning, Aria leapt towards her 5 year old daughter and while holding her tightly, furiously tickled her stomach. Olivia screamed and laughed and begged, but Aria wouldn't let her go.

"MUM," Olivia screamed so half the street could hear as Aria lifted Olivia and wrapped her legs around her waist, bringing her girl in for a tight hug. Olivia mirrored the action before pulling her face back from her mother's neck and placing a brief, deliberate kiss next to Aria's ear. Aria smiled and tightened her arms around Olivia.

"Love you too, baby. Just, please don't throw food at mummy, okay? It's not nice, and I don't do that to you, so please don't do that again," Aria asked calmly.

"I won't mum. Sorry, I was just trying to make you laugh. You seem sad," she replied honestly.

Aria took in a deep breath and kissed her daughter's cheek in reply. Her 5 year old could read her like a map, she was sad. She missed Ezra.

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><p>"<em>Aria please, don't look at me like that. I-" Ezra begged while Aria shook her head as she sat on their bed. "It's something I need to do, okay? I need to go on this camp for the school. I know 5 weeks away is-" he stopped and looked at her while he sighed sadly, "it's a very long time away from you, from our girls. I don't have a choice, I have to go. They need teachers, and it's a tour around Europe learning of art and literature, I have to accompany. I wish it wasn't as long away from you all," he said sadly. "I'm sorry I'm only just telling you now, I just- I didn't know how to tell you," he tried to justify while he sat down next to her, his hand moving towards her cheek as if to sooth. She shifted a few inches away from him, tears staining her face. <em>

"_I'm mostly sad that you didn't tell me, Ezra. Why didn't you tell me before, instead of simply announcing that 'you're leaving in three days', for FIVE WEEKS?" she shouted while she glared, suddenly not trusting the man before her._

"_There is no excuse, I have no excuse, and you may not believe me-," he spoke._

"_Try me," she replied shortly, cutting off his attempt to escape._

"_I felt bad that I was leaving you with the girls without talking about it with you first, so I delayed telling you. Truth is- I chickened out because I knew I should have approached it differently," he confessed while he stood, his hands furiously moved against each other nervously while he cleared his throat before taking a deep breath._

"_You should have told me. It's the fact that you didn't tell me that hurts most, Ezra. We have two kids, talk about every feeling we have; we never keep secrets. I still don't understand why you hid this," she said while grabbing her pillow from her bed. She walked towards their bedroom door; he tried to block her way._

"_Please, I love you so much. Stay here with me tonight?" he pleaded._

"_No," she whispered while staring in his eyes. Pain shot through his face and was very noticeable to her. She stepped away from him and proceeded to head towards Lily's bedroom. She'd stay there and get Lily to bunk with Olivia tonight._

_An emotion of icy winter had swept through and clung to the Fitz house for the three days leading up to Ezra leaving. Ezra and Aria didn't speak, though this wasn't by Ezra's choice. He desperately, absolutely every chance he had, tried to talk to her, even about inferior topics to try and draw her out of her state. She wasn't going for it; she wouldn't even look at him. The house was silent, cold. Even the girl's moods had sunk and become pained with all of their activities. Even the girls coming to breakfast became an occasion with sad expressions worn, no more than two words spoken at any time, which occurred very rarely. Betrayal and depression had ensued following Ezra's news, and he knew he had screwed up and pissed off all three of his girls. Those three days crawled on. There was no happiness as Ezra wondered why, honestly, he had failed to bring up something so important with Aria. Most likely, he told himself, he knew it would break her heart. _

_The morning came when Ezra was leaving. He had his bags packed, which had been packed in complete silence while Aria occasionally looked to the bags while he packed before continuing on her way on whatever task she was on. Each time, Ezra lifted his hopes that she was going to speak. Each time, these hopes weren't only crushed; they were evaporated by her glare into the air._

_A few hours later, all three girls stood at the stairs near the front door while Ezra placed his bag down, ready for a final goodbye. Lily glared at him before running up the stairs without as much as a goodbye. His heart broke immediately in that moment; the last time he'd see her for over a month. Olivia, with her stomach swaying a little in front of her while she waited, was clearly a little mad, but she still loved her daddy. Olivia walked forward in silence and wrapped her arms around Ezra when he bent down to her height. He kissed her cheek and smiled to himself; though it was still a little cold and far from perfect, he still had his youngest, still had one of his family to remember this way while he was away. He tapped Olivia on the bottom as a cue that he wanted time with her mum. They pulled apart smiling tightly, both sharing the thoughts that he wasn't in the good books, but they still loved each other very much. Olivia followed Lily's path and took off up the stairs after her sister. It was just Ezra and Aria left._

"_I love you, more than anyone, more than my life. Aria, please be okay with me. I can't live with myself if you're this mad at me. I can't survive if this is our last memory for 5 weeks. Please-" he begged while staring deep into her eyes, next to no space between them as he had stepped in towards her. Her eyes leaked tears as she bounced her heels in response to the situation. His fingertips graced her cheek while she felt herself cave just a little. "It wasn't meant to hurt you, I knew this would hurt you, that I had to go; that was why I couldn't tell you. I couldn't cause you that pain. And instead, I gave you a greater one," he finished staring at her lips. She wasn't pulling away. Silently, Ezra put his lips to hers softly and she responded. No words were spoken. Both understood Aria had a right to be mad, and would be for some time; but that shouldn't ruin their goodbye for so long. He backed away, tightly smiling as a result from the electricity and fire again burning through his body. He picked up his bag and turned back to Aria one final time before he left. She raised a hand as a wave and he smiled and walked out the door._

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><p><em><strong>Chapter 14 responses<strong>_

**krazyfan1 **Thank you kindly :)

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	16. Chapter 16

"Mummy was soooo mad at you, I could tell," Lily informed her father as they washed a new dog, Poncho in their front yard.

"I know Lil. Dad deserved it," he confessed gesturing the dog's collar to Lily to hold on to while he went and collected the hose to rinse the dog of soap.

"She was sad, the whole time you were gone. Everything here was sad. Part of me through you weren't going to come back," she confessed with her back to her father. Ezra stood a few metres behind her and stared at her while he let out a pained sigh.

"I would have taken you all if I could have, honey. Heck, I would have preferred taking my family to Europe with me in every way. But I'm making it up to you and your mum," he said with a smile before crouching down next to Poncho and beginning to rinse him off.

Aria stood in the window watching Ezra and Lily. Olivia ran up the room and wrapped her arms around her mother's back, leaning into Aria's stomach. Aria wrapped her arms around her baby while they both stared out as Ezra and Lily splashed soap and water around their front yard.

i

"_A dog? NO WAY!" Lily screamed as Ezra came up the front path from his holiday, a golden retriever of considerable age in tow. Lily threw open the front door and ran out to greet them. Ezra placed his luggage on the floor next to where he stood._

"_Well," Ezra began before he laughed as Lily ran towards the dog and wrapped her arms around him._

"_Careful, he doesn't know you yet. Here, stand back," Ezra directed his daughter who immediately followed his instruction._

"_Clench your fist like this," he pushed her fingers into the palm of her hand gently, before presenting her knuckles forward. "And place your hand like this near the dog's nose. He'll get a sense of you, decide if he likes you. Some dogs can be dangerous, so it's important to do this if you're unsure in any way," he offered as Lily's face lit up while the dog sniffed and then began licking her hand. Lily squealed and Ezra laughed at her response. _

"_It's so slimy," she laughed, clenching her hands in front of her while pulling a face. She turned to Ezra who had his hands on her torso._

"_I missed you baby," he said. The dog had commenced running around the front yard._

"_I missed you too, daddy," she admitted, her face becoming bright red with sadness. She threw her arms around her dad's shoulders and he grabbed her and held her to him._

"_I'm never leaving you again, even if school forces me to go again," he said before laughing briefly before stopping. He swung Lily's legs back and forth while their torsos clung together. He placed her on the ground before noticing the dog was getting close to the road. He whistled and the dog ran back._

"_He already knows how to do that?" Lily asked. "Wow," she breathed before turning to walk into the house a little ahead of Ezra._

_Ezra walked through the front door, pushing the dog ahead of him to follow Lily. Ezra placed looked down at his clothing and cleaned off a few specks of fluff so he looked neat. He knew Aria was in the window. He took a breath and walked slowly towards where he knew she was. He opened the door to the kitchen and simply stood there, staring at her. She was already facing him, she must have heard him coming._

"_I-" Ezra began._

_Aria lunged forward and began sobbing into his neck. Her body shook from her tears as she pressed herself to Ezra as tight as possible. His hands finally moved after being surprised by her response. They settled on her back gently, before tenderly pressing his finger comfortingly into her back. A few seconds later, he pulled her ribs as tight as possible to him and she laughed in relief before nuzzling her face back against his neck, which was now wet from her tears. _

"_Okay, we're going," Ella came in to the kitchen and announced to a very surprised Ezra and Aria. "I'm taking the girls to the movies. And I put the dog in the backyard," she said with a wink before walking out with the girls in tow. Ezra's eyes shot open, nervously now turning his gaze to Aria who was waiting for him to talk. _

"_Dog, Ezra? What dog is she talking about?" Aria asked him curiously. He cracked a nervous smile, which he was grateful rubbed off on her face. She smiled and shook her head. "That's really sweet. The girls will love it," she smiled before placing her hands on the front of his torso. _

"_He was a rescue-" Ezra began to explain, though Aria's hands started to roam. He took a shaky breath before attempting to continue. "He's 12 years old, a-" he paused, really struggling now as her hands reached his belt buckle. "He's a, good, gentle….dog," he concluded as she unclasped his buckle and began untying his top button to his pants. He gave a small smile while his eyes became glossy. He was home._

"_I missed you so much. I love you, soul mate. I always will," he smoothly admitted before they took each other's lips actively while his pants fell to the floor._

_ii_

_Rested in a comfortable almost-slumber, Ezra and Aria lay curled into each other in their bed. Her fingers lightly, savouring him as she traced his chest while he watched her adoringly. She looked up at him and smiled contently and he blushed and smiled staring into her eyes. He gently pressed his lips forward and touched them to her nose as he inhaled deeply. She closed her eyes and also breathed in deeply. "I missed you," she whispered while his hand brushed warmly against her torso. She pressed her head tightly into his chest and closed her eyes. His arms tightened around her bare back and he nuzzled his head tighter to hers. The chilly air meant their doona was tight around their heads to keep warm, even though it was mid-afternoon._

_iii._

"_Oh for God's sake!" Ella shouted as she stood at Ezra and Aria's bedroom door. The sound of little girls giggling from behind Ella immediately shook Ezra and Aria back to reality. "Middle of the afternoon, seriously? Oh-" Ella began stammering, before she gave up and slammed their bedroom door instead. "Okay, who wants to help me make a cake," Ezra and Aria heard Ella shout towards the girls as she left down the hall. Ezra and Aria looked at each other and started laughing, their faces curling into each other as they did so. Their laughter then simultaneously stopped and they stared into each other's eyes, before Aria reached her face forward and kissed Ezra tenderly. Her fingers traced the sides of his arms, his face, before tightening in his hair as she pulled him on top of her. _

_Later, Ezra and Aria entered the kitchen to find their girls staring at the window of the oven. They were sitting, watching something cook. They met Ella's eye who huffed at them and what they'd been doing._

"_What?" Aria asked, Ella rolling her eyes in response before she left the kitchen. _

"_I need a moment," she said as she walked away._

"_Hey girls, what are you doing?" Ezra asked as he crouched down behind Lily and Olivia and looked through the window._

"_We're making chocolate cake, see," Olivia said before gesturing her fingers towards the hot glass._

"_DON'T, you'll burn your finger," Lily shouted as she slammed Olivia's finger away. _

"_It smells amazing," Aria said as she came to join her family on the floor of the kitchen. Ezra wrapped his arm around her back as they enjoyed being together again._

"_We missed you, dad," Olivia finally piped up, filling Ezra's heart immediately._

"_I missed you too baby girl, so much," he said, running his fingers through her hair._

"_I actually, um-" he began to excitedly say before he cut himself off. Aria and the girls turned to look at his face while he struggled. "I have a surprise for you all. I was thinking, why don't we go to Italy? It was amazing. My darling Aria, I want you to see this country. And you two of course, I want you to experience it," he said as he looked at the girls. "It's magical. So, what do you think? Maybe the coming semester break in a few weeks?" he asked Aria, who smiled and nodded in response._

"_Yeah my love, that sounds really nice," she said before kissing his neck before they hugged. "Yay," the girls screamed before running out of the kitchen. Their chocolate cake momentarily forgotten._

"_It'll be great," Aria said as they continued in the hug._

_Then they heard the sound of Ella slamming the front door hard behind her._

_iv._

_That night, Aria's felt sickness overcome her. Her stomach was giving her terrible trouble, threatening to bring up her food from the day._

"_Ezra, hold me?" she said as she crawled into bed next to him. "I feel terrible," she said glumly as he pulled her into his arms. _

"_Where do you feel sick?" he asked worried._

"_Stomach, mostly. I feel like I'm going to be sick," she confessed as his hand trailed through her hair before pausing. She looked at him concerned. _

"_What?" she asked, looking to his face to see his face alight and smiling broadly._

"_What if- well, we didn't have any food today that could have been off or contaminated. What if, you're pregnant?" he asked excitedly. _

_Her face displayed brief confusion before genuine excitement. "This is how I felt after we'd conceived each of the girls," she said, enthusiastically tightening her grip on Ezra's arm. _

_He winced a little at the pain before smiling again. "I know, I remember," he said before kissing her hair and then deeply kissing her mouth. _

"_Oh my God," Aria mumbled in the middle of their kissing. "Our family is growing still," she said before pulling back, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. Ezra's eyes looked much the same._

"_Every day I have you, I have our family, I am eternally grateful. I love you, I will always love you. You're just perfect, Aria," he said wholeheartedly, making her blush._

"_Beautiful man, I love you right now more than ever. No words will ever encapsulate just how grateful I am to have you. I love you so much," she said before he began kissing her enthusiastically. Aria winced and grabbed his hand, placing it to her stomach._

_She whispered, "Though I also want to celebrate with you, my love; I feel like I could be sick at any moment. We may need to hold off on that type of celebration for a little bit," she reminded him and he blushed._

"_Sorry," he said._

_She smiled and shook her head. "It's okay. Just, hold me tonight?" she asked and he immediately held her to him. Their breathing slowed as they enjoyed their silence together._

"_Wow, what a day!" Ezra said with a smile before he began rubbing Aria's back to drift her off to sleep. _

_v._

"_Poncho, his name is going to be Poncho," Lily announced to Ezra as they began walking outside._

"_Poncho? Where did that name come from?" he asked her while they took out some dog food and bowls to the garage to make a designated area for the dog._

"_I don't know, but I like it," she piped up. "And Olivia likes it too," she shared as he looked at her and chuckled at her enthusiasm._

"_It's true, I do," Olivia shouted from the back door before she ran across the lawn to join them. "Poncho gets my pink blanket to keep him warm," she announced proudly, before pushing past Ezra and Lily and laying it down on the floor of Poncho's kennel. Ezra laughed as his four year old pressed the blanket to fit Poncho's kennel perfectly. He left her to finish while he and Lily went to set up breakfast for Poncho. Ezra cut open the dry food bag and handed it to Lily. Lily smiled and began tipping the bag into the bowl before squealing. The food toppled everywhere, and she pulled a face which made Ezra laugh violently. _

"_Oh Lil, it's okay. We'll just make this a 'welcome to the family' feast," he offered as Lily relaxed and smiled again. _

"_YAY," Olivia screamed. "Poncho, food time," she shouted across the lawn. The dog heard the noise and ran to the kennel, before immediately tucking into the food before him. Olivia and Lily came and stood close to Ezra, and he placed a hand on each of their shoulders. _

"_Well done, girls. Mission accomplished," she said with a smile as they watched the dog hungrily consume all the food before him._

**You guys are so awesome! Thanks for sticking with this story! :) I am going to stop, at least for now, responding individually to comments though. I feel the chapters would flow more if I do that. This isn't me not appreciating, but just feeling like a bit of a change :) Coolio? xxxx**


	17. Chapter 17

**Short, yes, but I am going somewhere with this and the next part will connect with this so enjoy, let it absorb, cause I can't wait to stir it up a bit. :) **

**I hope you realise if you're still with this story and it's still dear to you that you're officially kick-arse, and I bloody love you! 3 Stay cool -St0ryTeller**

"_Poncho, his name is going to be Poncho," Lily announced to Ezra as they began walking outside._

"_Poncho? Where did that name come from?" he asked her while they took out some dog food and bowls to the garage to make a designated area for the dog._

"_I don't know, but I like it," she piped up. "And Olivia likes it too," she shared as he looked at her and chuckled at her enthusiasm._

"_It's true, I do," Olivia shouted from the back door before she ran across the lawn to join them. "Poncho gets my pink blanket to keep him warm," she announced proudly, before pushing past Ezra and Lily and laying it down on the floor of Poncho's kennel. Ezra laughed as his four year old pressed the blanket to fit Poncho's kennel perfectly. He left her to finish while he and Lily went to set up breakfast for Poncho. Ezra cut open the dry food bag and handed it to Lily. Lily smiled and began tipping the bag into the bowl before squealing. The food toppled everywhere, and she pulled a face which made Ezra laugh violently._

"_Oh Lil, it's okay. We'll just make this a 'welcome to the family' feast," he offered as Lily relaxed and smiled again._

"_YAY," Olivia screamed. "Poncho, food time," she shouted across the lawn. The dog heard the noise and ran to the kennel, before immediately tucking into the food before him. Olivia and Lily came and stood close to Ezra, and he placed a hand on each of their shoulders._

"_Well done, girls. Mission accomplished," she said with a smile as they watched the dog hungrily consume all the food before him._

* * *

><p>Poncho hungrily consumed the food from a bowl on the floor of the kitchen. Ezra came into the room to see Lily and Olivia staring at him petrified while Poncho continued to make scoffing sounds as he ate from the bowl. He immediately clued on and curiously walked towards his girls.<p>

"How was your porridge girls?" he asked them. Olivia nervously shot her eyes to Lily, who glared at her to relax. "It was yummy, thanks dad," Olivia replied unconvincingly, making Lily's eyes roll.

"Hmm, so why does Poncho's face have porridge all over it. And, sultanas? That's such a coincidence, isn't it, girls?" he said lowering his eyes at them. They both lowered their heads subtally, admitting defeat.

"Sit down, you can have mummy and daddy's porridge and I'll sit with you as you eat. How does that sound?" he asked teasingly, as both the girls grunted and scooted back to their seats.

Aria came down to join them and she sat at her seat smiling at her girls who were glumly leaning on the table.

"What did I miss?" she asked Ezra concerned.

"Oh, nothing! The girls were just so excited about porridge that they wanted to have more. Isn't that right, girls?" he asked and they mumbled back forced agreeance, unconvincing to Aria.

"Okay, sure," she said laughing.

"Morning my angel," Ezra said, kissing Aria's lips. "And my other angel," he said before getting to his knees and kissing Aria's stomach while she ran her hand through his hair and smiled.

"Wait, WHAT?" Lily shouted at her parents, who remembered they were the only ones that had known.

"'MY OTHER ANGEL', as in, someone in mummy's tummy," she asked panicked, Olivia immediately mimicking and being thrown further into the panic as she was too young to fully register what was happening.

"Lily, now," Ezra said, pointing to the family room and he and her went for a talk. Olivia sat at her chair crying, staring petrified at her mother.

"Let me show you something baby," she said, getting up and going into the library briefly. She returned a few moments later with a book 'There's a House Inside My Mummy'. Aria walked and took the chair next to Olivia, before pulling her up onto her knee. Olivia nuzzled into her mother who opened the first page of the book. "I love you baby girl, now let me read you this story," she said while rubbing Olivia's back and kissing her cheek. Olivia curiously sat and stared at the book before Aria started to read. By the conclusion of the book, Olivia was relaxing to the idea, though it was clear to Aria that she'd still need time. She placed the book on the coffee table and wrapped her arms around her girl tightly, where they remained undisturbed for about five minutes.

Ezra and Lily then returned. Lily walked close to her mother and stood before her. "I'm sorry, I was just shocked. I wish you had told us first," she confessed, tears dripping down her cheek.

"I already said that we decided we were going to tell them today, that we only found out with tests definitely yesterday. I admitted I slipped up when we had decided to tell them properly," Ezra chimed in to his wife.

"I love you mum, I'm sorry I behaved that way," Lily said before giving Aria a hug. Aria kissed Lily's hair 'It's okay honey, I know you are," she soothed while Olivia was still on her small lap.

"Okay children, go upstairs and get dressed. We're taking you out for pancakes before school," Ezra proudly announced. The girls screamed excitedly and ran up to their bedrooms to get dressed. Ezra picked Aria up and held her in his arms bridal style. She nuzzled into his neck, and he held her impossibly close to him.

"I love you, well done," he said as his hands soothed her. She began relaxing again in his arms.

ii.

"Oh, very nice," Aria laughed as Olivia covered her cheeks with maple syrup as she ate her pancakes. They were all laughing at Olivia as she tried to coordinate the pancake on her fork and her mouth meeting together, and she was failing miserably. Though the adorable sight was being enjoyed by all. Ezra removed his phone from his shorts and snapped the video of her trying to eat, finally succeeding getting the pancake in her mouth and smiling proudly. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, making Aria fuss and grab a napkin "Now you're all sticky. Oh!" she said grabbing her daughter and hauling her to the bathroom.

Lily looked at Ezra and smiled. "Thanks dad, for taking us out."

"Yeah, no problem honey," he said, quickly taking a photo of her too as she pulled a huge smile for the camera, her arms and fingers stretched out proudly like a star, her brunette hair naturally wavy and perfect for the photo. "I love you, I'm so proud of you, you know that, right?" Ezra asked and Lily smiled.

"Thanks," she said before she got to her feet and walked to him, giving him a hug while he kissed her forehead. "You remember you said you were going to make it up to mum and us, that you went away? What did you mean?" she asked. "I mean I'm planning a surprise for us all, but you can't tell the others yet. Alright?" he asked.

"Alright," she said smiling excitedly, before returning to her seat. Aria and Olivia returned, Olivia's pot belly full from her breakfast and her smile giant. She was in heaven.

"Time for Nana Ella's house," Aria piped up when they returned to the table, and grabbed her phone and purse. "She misses you guys, it's been a little while," she reminded them as they all stood to leave the restaurant, leaving the bill paid on the table.

iii.

"Hello everyone," Ella warmly greeted when Ezra, Aria, Lily and Olivia all arrived at her house. "Time to spend a day with nana. Wow, someone enjoyed breakfast," she said, observing the syrup that was covering Olivia's shirt.

"Don't get me started," Aria said light-heartedly before hugging her mother.

"Please, come inside," she offered and the girls and Aria ran in. She stopped Ezra at the door.

"I'm watching you," she threatened and Ezra's eyes shot open in panic and confusion.

"I have no idea what you're suggesting, Ella," he truthfully responded.

"I know what you've been up to. What are you doing to your family?" she asked accusingly.

"What in the world are you talking about?" he mimicked her tone. "Ella, I haven't done anything wrong," he responded.

"Oh, how I disagree," she snarled at him before turning into her house quickly. Ezra grabbed her arm and turned her around.

"Tell me what you're talking about, right now," he demanded, his tone and obviously lack of understanding making Ella keen to fill him in.

"You make out with other people when you're away from your family. Pippa, as in Miss. Johnston who you were away with, emailed me saying what happened. You are a PIG," she shouted before going to find her daughter.

Ezra stood there shaken, blank. His body was numb and suddenly his world was spinning.

Nothing had happened while he was away. He didn't even have a lot to drink when he was away to blur his memory. Heck, he didn't drink at all! He turned towards the front door and left, taking his and Aria's car with him without hesitating a look back.

**I am beyond thrilled that this family means so much to people. It is because of this that I was wondering if there's anything you'd like to see happen? I have ideas and plans, but wouldn't mind incorporating some ideas in if people would like to see them included. Now's your chance, let me know :)**


	18. Chapter 18

"_I know what you've been up to. What are you doing to your family?" she asked accusingly._

"_What in the world are you talking about?" he mimicked her tone. "Ella, I haven't done anything wrong," he responded._

"_Oh, how I disagree," she snarled at him before turning into her house quickly. Ezra grabbed her arm and turned her around._

"_Tell me what you're talking about, right now," he demanded, his tone and obviously lack of understanding making Ella keen to fill him in._

"_You make out with other people when you're away from your family. Pippa, as in Miss. Johnston who you were away with, emailed me saying what happened. You are a PIG," she shouted before going to find her daughter. _

_Ezra stood there shaken, blank. His body was numb and suddenly his world was spinning._

_Nothing had happened while he was away. He didn't even have a lot to drink when he was away to blur his memory. Heck, he didn't drink at all! He turned towards the front door and left, taking his and Aria's car with him without hesitating a look back. _

The day passed slowly for all. Ezra constantly called Aria's phone, desperate for her to speak to him. When the night air began to set in, there were bangs on Ella's front door, where Aria and the girls were still.

"ARIA," he shouted as he smashed into the front door of Ella's house repeatedly. He had not been drinking, which could explain his heightened anger; he had very simply been knocking on the front door for over an hour. Mosquitos were starting to nip at his arms.

Then she appeared at the door and completely startled him. He lunged backwards a good metre and just looked at her.

"Why won't you talk to me?" he begged.

"Really? You really don't know why?" Aria furiously retorted.

"It isn't true, Aria! All this time us together, our love, our beautiful little girls; and you believe a liar, a baseless-story over my word. Sure, many men are arseholes; but I am _not_ one of them. I will always be and always have been honest to you. I beg, I plead, with every part of me; I want my family back. I will never hurt you in such a way, or intentionally ever. You _know_ that."

The sobbing man, chest heaving and throat dry stood there in the now chilly air, and possessed nothing but honesty. She _did_ know him, and couldn't believe she'd let someone else, even Ella influence her to distrust him.

She softly smiled and shrugged.

"Oh thank God," was his response before he stepped into the doorway to hug her. He repeatedly kissed her neck while she exhaled a deep breath.

"I went to that appointment by myself," Aria sadly confessed. Reading her tone that there was news, he cried silently that he had missed a milestone.

"Definitely another child," she smiled as he looked at her, his arms still around her. "I have a pretty good feeling it's a boy. The experience so far is different to when I had the girls." Her eyes sparkled, and he felt on top of the world. He was so glad she was so happy too. He kissed her out of happiness and love, tenderly, longingly. He had truly feared, through that lie, he was going to lose her.

"We can find out the sex in a few weeks. We'll talk about the date later," she said _matter-of-factly_.

The girls and Ella would have heard Ezra's banging on the door, though Ella had put a film on for them. They knew dad was upset and they were scared of what was wrong, but not of _him._

Aria went upstairs to Ella, Lily and Liv.

"Mum, pause the TV, please," she asked and Ella quickly complied.

"Girls, we're going home, so go meet dad who is at the front door," she told the girls who immediately stood and ran towards the stairs. "Careful on the stairs!" Aria shouted after them. She then turned to Ella. Ella knew a speech was coming.

"I trust my husband. Just because a tramp sent you an email doesn't make what she said true. You know him too. I'm so disappointed in you, and in myself for having believe the lie myself," Aria confessed ashamed, before departing the room to join her family.

That night, with an ordered pizza at the foot of the bed, and empty sundae containers on the floor (which were going to be so wonderful for _Ezra_ to clean up tomorrow; Aria was going to make sure it wasn't her that cleaned that up); all four Fitz members and the little one in Aria's stomach all lay in the master bedroom, completely full, hideously so, yet completely happy and content. They put 'Friends' on the tv in the bedroom (which they'll admit, was used very little), and all started drifting off to their dreams.

_Library_ was all that was written on the sticky not Ezra found on his nose as he turned in the middle of the night. He looked and saw Lily and Olivia asleep happily in the centre of his and Aria's bed, though Aria was missing. Puzzled, and excited, he climbed out of bed to head to the library. When he reached the library after walking the wooden corridors, he saw a glow from behind the door. His eyes full of wonder and lust when he slowly pushed open the door.

In the centre of the floor sat Aria. She was sitting on the patchwork quilt they both knew well from his apartment when they first started dating. That quilt had a lot of memories, and it had been a while since it had been out of the cupboard.

"I thought, you know-" she said flirtatiously, "that it'd been a while since we reminded this old guy of our early days," she said with a wink while rubbing the quilt.

"You better be talking about that quilt and not me when you say _this old guy_," he teased as he closed the door and came and joined her on the floor.

"Sure, I was talking about the quilt," Aria played on his brief moment of insecurity before resting her hands on his thighs and roughly kissing him. Only seconds passed before he was over her and her back was on the quilt, a pillow snug under her head as they rapidly began moving with each other, raising each other to the highest peak, and being each other's safety raft on the rapid fall off the cliff.

Sweating, dizzy, the best kind of happy, they found themselves under the quilt and sharing the one pillow as their night came to an end.

"DADDY?! MUMMY?!" Young voices screamed through the house.

Ezra and Aria both startled awake, realising their position broke them into a panic. Both naked, and had been naturally happy in each other's arms, their moment of heaven was now 'daylight hours of heaven with children screaming'. Ezra kissed her early quickly while whispering "Oh damn," before they furiously tried to throw their clothes on.

Ezra was dressed, but Aria's top had to be done up. He walked to her to help her with the buttons, which he knew of course, Aria could probably do quicker than him, but he wanted to do it. She smiled and let his hands fumble around her chest awkwardly, and she was pretty sure he intentionally copped a feel a few times, but that just made her giggle. The girls threw open the library door and stood with moody eyes like little teenagers when they caught their deshevled parents. Though they didn't know what had been happening, both Ezra and Aria looked so guilty and so happy that the girls knew they had been, well, _mischevious. _

"SPRUNG," Lily said before expecting an explanation. Ezra and Aria laughed softly, making the young girl trying to assert power frustrated. For 7, she was adorable when she was trying to be 'in charge'.

"Hey, stop laughing!" Lily said before pouting.

"Aww, we're sorry baby," Aria assured Lily before going and hugging her.

"Mum, you smell," Lily said strongly, yet not dishonestly. Aria opened her eyes widely as she looked at her daughter.

"Don't worry, Lil; mum and dad are going to go shower now while you pour yourself and your sister a bowl of cocoa puffs, and we'll smell nice again soon," Ezra said quickly, proud of his saving of his wife, and what he hoped he would experience in the shower. Aria's eyes stared inquisitively into his, knowing his game. His catching of her eyes made him realise he maybe was getting a little _too_ confident and to keep dreaming. He sighed slightly disappointed, and she smiled knowing she had the reigns.

The girls then walked to get their cereal and Ezra and Aria to their bathroom hand in hand. She silently pressed him to the wall of the shower, roughly biting a key point on his neck as she jumped her legs around his waist and he caught her without hesitation. Then the water began to fall over their bodies.

Later in the day, they all sat on the couch, various novels and picture books surrounding them as they enjoyed their lazy Monday. It was a new concept, though one the family was willing to embrace occasionally from now on, they thought.

"I want to write a book," Lily announced. "About a girl Leyla who goes on a huge adventure as a spy, all around the world."

"That sounds great honey," Aria said warmly.

"I'll get some paper and you can start writing it, Lil," Ezra said excitedly, tapping her knee and going to get a notebook. Lily sat their inspired and confident. Her parents believed she could achieve such a feat, which spurred her drive 3x more. Aria sat next to Lily, occasionally helping her with the spelling of some words as she wrote her first draft by hand. Ezra sat in a chair opposite them and breathed deeply, happily and the sight. Occasionally, knowing his eyes were locked in pure bliss on her and Lily; Aria would occasionally raise her eyes to smile at her husband. Only one word was in Ezra's mind, _Perfection_.

**I'm sorry it has been so long. I hope the happiness of this chapter was worth said wait.**


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